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Division 


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FURTHER  INDIA 


A General  View  from  Mandalay  Hill 


THE  STORY  OF  EXPLORATION 


Further  India 


BEING 

THE  STORY  OF  EXPLORATION  FROM  THE 
EARLIEST  TIMES  IN  BURMA,  MALAYA 
SIAM  AND  INDO-CHINA 


HUGH  CLIFFORD,  C.M.G. 

AUTHOR  OF 

"IN  COURT  AND  KAMPONG,”  "STUDIES  IN  BROWN  HUMANITY,” 
“ BUSHWACKING,”  "A  FREE-LANCE  OF  TO-DAY,”  ETC. 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS  FROM  DRAWINGS,  PHOTOGRAPHS 
AND  MAPS 

AND  WITH  MAP  IN  COLOURS 
BY  J.  G.  BARTHOLOMEW 


NEW  YORK 

FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 


PUBLISHERS 


Copyright , iqc>4 , 

By  Frederick  A.  Stokes  Company 


Published  in  September,  1904 


TO 

DEMS 


THIS  BOOK.  IS  LOVINGLY  DEDICATED 
IN  MEMORY  OF 
THE  DAYS  DURING  WHICH 
IT  WAS  WRITTEN 


CONTENTS 


Chapter  Page 

I.  Chryse  the  Golden  and  the  Chersonesus 

A UREA 1 

II.  The  Medieval  Wanderers 24 

III.  The  Coming  of  the  Filibusters  ....  45 

IV.  The  Explorations  of  the  Portuguese  . . 74 

V.  The  East  India  Companies,  and  After  . 101 

VI.  Francis  Garnier,  the  Man 129 

VII.  The  Problem  of  the  Khmer  Civilisation  . 145 

VIII.  From  Pnom  Penh  to  Ubon 167 

IX.  Ubon  to  Luang  Prabang — Mouhot  and 

Other  Explorers 191 

X.  The  Shan  States  and  Yun-nan  . . . . 220 

XI.  Journeys  of  Exploration  in  Burma  . . . 255 

XII.  Further  Exploration  of  Siam,  French  Indo- 

China  and  the  Malay  Peninsula  . . 299 

XIII.  Chryse  the  Golden  as  It  Stands  Revealed 

To-day 331 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


A General  view  from  Mandalay  Hill  . . Frontispiece 

Part  of  the  World,  according  to  Pomponius 

Mela Facing  page  4 

Part  of  the  World,  according  to  Ptolemy  . “ 6 

Ptolemy’s  Further  India,  as  interpreted  in 

the  Fifteenth  Century “ 10 

The  World,  according  to  Edrisi  ....  “ 22 

The  World,  according  to  Masudi  ....  “ 22 

Marco  Polo “ 24 

Odoric “ 34 

Alfonso  Dalboquerque “ 54 

Malay  Peninsula,  by  Waldsiemuller.  Strass- 

burg  Ptolemy,  1513 “ 56 

Malacca,  in  the  Sixteenth  Century  ...  “ 60 

J.  Huyghen  van  Linschoten “ 104 

Linschoten’s  map,  1 599 “ 106 

Further  India.  From  Blaew’s  Atlas,  1663  . “ 108 

Further  India.  From  Danville’s  Map  of 

Asia,  1755 “ 1 14 

Francis  Gamier “ 130 

Further  India,  1840.  From  Lizar’s  Edin- 
burgh Map “ 132 


V 


VI 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Doudart  de  Lagree Facing  page  142 

Western  Front  of  Ankor  Wat “ 144 

Plan  of  Temple  of  Ankor  Wat “ 146 

Sculpture  at  Ankor  Wat,  Kambodia  ...  “ 148 

Ravine  near  the  Mekong  “ 174 

The  Mekong  at  Hsin  Tu  Ku “ 178 

Alexandre  Henri  Mouhot “ 192 

Prairies  on  the  Mekong “ 240 

On  the  Irawadi  River,  in  the  First  Defile  . “ 260 

The  Bazaar  at  Bhamo “ 262 

Plain  south  of  Bhamo  “ 268 

Second  Defile  of  the  Irawadi  River  ...  “ 272 

Colonel  Sir  H.  Yule,  K.C.S.I.,  C.B.  . . “ 274 

Forest  Scenery,  Burma “ 276 

Burman  Family  Group “ 280 

Augustus  R.  Margary “ 292 

Captain  William  Gill,  R.  E “ 294 

Edward  Colborne  Baber  “ 294 

Lao  Town,  Muang-Nan “ 298 

Bangkok “ 302 

River  Scene,  Bangkok  “ 306 

On  the  Mon  River “ 310 

Auguste  Pavie “ 312 

The  Great  Rapid.  Red  River,  Lukay  to 

Manhao “ 316 

Village  Road,  Anam “ 318 

Kachin  Village “ 320 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Vll 

View  of  the  River  from  Belida,  Kechau, 

Pahang Facing  page  326 

On  the  Tenasserim  River “ ^28 

Forest  in  Anam “ 333 

Valley  of  the  Upper  Donnai “ 342 

Saigon.  From  Saloun’s  L’Indo-Chine  . . “ 344 

Map  in  colours,  by  J.  G.  Bartholomew,  at  end  0 j Volume 


FURTHER  INDIA 


CHAPTER  I 

CHRYSE  THE  GOLDEN  AND  THE  CHERSONESUS  AUREA 

THE  great  peninsula  which  forms  the  south- 
eastern corner  of  the  Asiatic  continent,  com- 
prising, as  we  know  it  to-day,  Burma,  Siam, 
French  Indo-China  and  the  Malay  Peninsula,  -will  be 
found,  in  comparison  with  other  regions  of  the  East,  to 
have  suffered  at  the  hands  of  Europeans  from  a wholly 
unmerited  neglect.  Latterly,  it  is  true,  the  Powers  of  the 
West  have  been  busy  here,  as  in  other  quarters  of  the 
world ; but  in  spite  of  their  new-born  political  impor- 
tance only  a languid  interest  has,  for  the  most  part, 
been  excited  in  the  countries  themselves  and  in  the 
problems  to  which  their  affairs  have  given  rise.  The 
failure  of  the  lands  of  southeastern  Asia  to  make  a 
strong  appeal  to  the  imagination  of  the  peoples  of  Europe 
is  to  be  ascribed,  however,  not  to  their  intrinsic  unimpor- 
tance, nor  yet  to  any  lack  of  wealth,  of  beauty,  of  charm, 
or  of  the  interest  that  springs  from  a mysterious  and 
mighty  past.  The  reason  is  to  be  sought  solely  in  the 
mere  accident  of  their  geographical  position.  Lying  as 
they  do  midway  upon  the  great  sea-route  w'hich  leads 

i 


2 


FURTHER  INDIA 


from  India  to  China,  it  has  been  the  fate  of  these  coun- 
tries to  be  overshadowed  from  the  beginning  by  the 
immensity  and  the  surpassing  fascination  of  their  mighty 
neighbours.  Thus,  even  when  India  and  Cathay  had 
emerged  at  last  from  the  nebulous  haze  of  myth,  super- 
stition and  conjecture  with  which  the  imaginations  of 
Europeans  had  early  enshrouded  them,  southeastern 
Asia  continued  to  be  wrapped  in  obscurity,  such  knowl- 
edge of  it  as  was  possessed  being  practically  confined  to 
a bare  acquaintance  with  its  coast-lines,  with  a few  ports 
of  call,  and  with  the  seas  traversed  by  ships  in  their  pas- 
sage from  the  shores  of  Malabar  to  the  southern  provinces 
of  China.  Similarly,  in  our  own  time,  while  every 
schoolboy  can  point  out  Canton  or  Peking,  Delhi  or 
Peshwur,  as  a matter  of  course,  not  one  educated  man  in 
fifty  can  put  his  finger  unhesitatingly  upon  the  spot  on 
the  map  which  represents  Chieng  Tong  or  Bhamo, 
Pahang  or  Pnom-Penh.  The  real  exploration  of  this 
region,  beyond  the  limits  of  a narrow  zone  of  coast- 
lands,  was  not  accomplished  until  during  the  latter  half 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  while  the  work  done  in  this 
direction  by  Francis  Gamier  and  a host  of  smaller  men  is 
even  less  known  in  these  islands  than  are  the  localities  in 
which  their  labours  were  performed. 

It  is  not  easy  to  realise  to  how  late  a period  in  their 
history  the  Greeks  remained  in  almost  total  ignorance  of 
the  Eastern  world,  or  indeed  of  any  inhabited  lands  lying 
at  a distance  from  the  seaboard  of  the  Mediterranean.  It 
was  not  until  the  invasion  of  Xerxes  forced  the  fact  upon  ' 


CHRYSE  THE  GOLDEN 


3 


their  attention  in  uncompromising  wise  that  they  com- 
pletely grasped  the  proximity  of  Persia.  Hecataeus  of 
Miletus,  who  wrote  between  520  and  500  b.  c.,  is  the 
first  of  the  ancients  to  make  mention  of  India  and  the 
Indus  by  name,  and  Megasthenes,  who  was  in  the  service 
of  the  Syrian  King,  Seleucus  Nicanor,  during  the  third 
century  b.  c.,  was  the  earliest  writer  to  extend  the  west- 
ern acquaintance  with  the  East  to  the  banks  of  the 
Ganges.  He  traversed  the  great  peninsula  from  the 
Indus  to  the  former  river  by  means  of  what  he  describes 
as  “ the  royal  road  ” — probably  the  first  of  the  grand 
trunk-roads  of  India — crossed  successively  the  Sutlej  and 
the  Jumna,  and  descended  the  Ganges  to  Palibothra,  a 
town  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sone  which  was  the  capital  of 
a king  called  Sandracottus  (Chandra-gupta).  He  brought 
back  with  him  much  detailed  information  concerning  the 
country,  its  people  and  its  products,  and  he  speaks  of 
cinnamon  and  other  spices  as  being  imported  from  the 
southern  parts  of  India,  which  may  possibly  be  an  indi- 
cation of  the  existence,  even  in  his  time,  of  the  spice-trade 
of  the  Malayan  Archipelago. 

It  was  not,  however,  until  after  the  beginning  of  our 
era  that  the  first,  faintest  hint  reached  Europe  concern- 
ing the  existence  of  lands  lying  to  the  east  of  the 
Ganges.  It  is  found  in  the  writings  of  Pomponius  Mela, 
whose  date  can  be  fixed  from  internal  evidence  at  a.  d. 
43,  which  make  mention  of  a headland  named  Tabis, 
described  by  the  author  as  the  most  easterly  extremity 
of  Asia,  and  of  another,  apparently  further  to  the  south, 
called  Tamus.  Off  the  latter  lay  Chryse,  or  the  Golden 


4 


FURTHER  INDIA 


Isle,  while  Argyre,  the  Isle  of  Silver,  was  opposite  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Ganges.  Pomponius  Mela  places  the  land 
of  the  Seres — the  name  by  which  the  inhabitants  of 
northern  China  were  known — south  of  Tabis  and  be- 
tween that  headland  and  India.  These  statements, 
though  they  represent  nothing  more  than  a vague  grop- 
ing after  the  truth,  are  interesting  because  they  mark  the 
dawn  of  a perception  that  beyond  the  Ganges  there  lay 
further  to  the  east  certain  inhabited  lands,  and  because 
they  show  that  in  Pomponius  Mela’s  time  the  Seres  were 
recognised  as  occupying  country  at  the  extreme  east  of  the 
Asiatic  continent.  Concerning  Chryse  itself  Pomponius 
Mela,  it  is  probable,  entertained  no  very  definite  ideas, 
but  his  mention  of  the  mythical  isle  indicates  that  a new 
geographical  conception  had  come  into  being.  Hence- 
forth the  Ganges  was  no  longer  to  be  regarded  as  the 
eastern  limit  of  the  habitable  world.  The  map  of  the 
earth  according  to  Pomponius  Mela,  here  reproduced 
from  Mr.  E.  H.  Bunbury’s  admirable  History  of  Ancient 
Geography,  shows  the  distorted  character  of  his  notions 
concerning  the  configuration  of  the  seas  and  continents  ; 
but  in  the  insignificant  island  of  Chryse,  there  seen  lying 
off  the  promontory  of  Tamus,  we  must  recognise  the 
earliest  attempt  ever  made  by  a European  to  locate  the 
lands  of  southeastern  Asia. 

It  was  about  this  time,  as  we  learn  from  the  works  of 
Pliny  the  Elder  and  from  that  of  the  anonymous  author 
of  the  Periplus  of  the  Erythraean  Sea,  both  of  which  be- 
long to  the  latter  half  of  the  first  century,  that  a great 
revolution  was  worked  in  Asiatic  navigation.  Pliny  tells 


Part  of  the  World  according  to  Pomponius  Mela 

From  Bunbury’s  “ History  of  Ancient  Geography  ” 


CHRYSE  THE  GOLDEN  5 


us  that  the  southwest  monsoon  was  called  the  Hippalus, 
and  the  author  of  the  Periplus  explains  that  “ a pilot 
named  Hippalus  was  the  first,  who,  from  observing  the 
position  of  the  ports,  and  the  configuration  of  the  sea, 
discovered  the  mode  of  sailing  right  across  the  open  sea ; 
from  which  the  name  of  Hippalus  is  given  to  the  local 
wind  which  blows  steadily  from  the  southwest,  in  the 
Indian  seas.” 

The  voyage  of  Hippalus,  whose  example  had  been  so 
generally  followed  in  the  time  of  Pliny  that  the  journey 
to  and  from  India  was  then  regularly  made  by  many 
ships  every  year,  marks  an  epoch  in  the  story  of  naviga- 
tion. Up  to  this  time  the  seamen  of  western  Asia  and 
of  Europe  had  not  ventured  out  of  sight  of  land,  and  the 
length  of  their  voyages  had  been  determined  by  the  con- 
volutions of  the  coast-lines  which  they  skirted.  The  man 
who,  first  of  all  his  kind,  had  the  hardihood  to  face  the 
open  sea,  to  lose  the  comfortable  sight  of  terra  firma,  to 
stake  his  life  upon  the  accuracy  of  his  own  crude  knowl- 
edge of  geography,  and  to  sail  thus  bravely  into  the 
Unknown,  deserves  to  take  rank  with  the  world’s  great 
adventurers,  with  Colombus,  with  da  Gama,  with  Magel- 
lan, and  in  that  he  had  less  of  accumulated  experience  to 
fortify  his  resolution,  he  may  even  be  accounted  a greater 
than  they. 

The  opening  up  of  the  direct  sea-route  to  India  thus 
effected  served  at  once  to  give  an  enormous  impetus  to 
trade  between  Alexandria  and  the  East,  and  Pliny  was 
able  to  obtain  first-hand  information  on  the  subject  of 
Ceylon  from  four  ambassadors  whom  a king  of  that 


6 


FURTHER  INDIA 


island  sent  to  the  Court  of  the  Emperor  Claudius.  He 
states,  among  other  things,  that  trade  was  carried  on  by 
the  natives  of  Taprobane  (Ceylon)  with  the  Seres  of 
northern  China,  though  doubt  is  cast  upon  the  matter  by 
the  fact  that  the  Chinese  are  described  as  fair-haired, 
blue-eyed  giants.  On  the  other  hand  it  is  significant 
that  no  mention  is  made  of  any  commercial  relations  sub- 
sisting between  the  peoples  of  Ceylon  and  those  of  south- 
eastern Asia,  This  is,  at  the  best,  but  negative  evidence, 
yet  it  is  noteworthy  as  seeming  to  indicate  that  the  sea- 
route  between  India  and  China  was  not  even  then  in 
general  use,  despite  the  fact  that  commercial  intercourse 
between  the  two  empires  had  been  carried  on  overland 
from  a period  of  remote  antiquity. 

Of  Chryse,  the  Golden,  Pliny,  in  fact,  has  nothing  to 
tell  us,  and  the  author  of  the  Periplus,  whose  personal 
knowledge  did  not  extend  beyond  Nelkynda,  probably 
Melisseram,  on  the  Malabar  coast,  says  of  it  only  that  it 
was  situated  opposite  to  the  mouths  of  the  Ganges  and 
that  it  produced  the  best  tortoise-shell  found  in  all  the 
Erythraean  Sea.  He  speaks,  however,  of  Thina,  the  land 
of  silk,  situated  “ where  the  seacoast  ends  externally,” 
whence  we  may  gather  that  Chryse  was  conceived  by 
him  as  an  island  lying  not  only  to  the  east  of  the  Ganges, 
but  also  to  the  southward  of  the  Chinese  Empire.  This 
indicates  a distinct  advance  in  knowledge,  for  the  isle  of 
Chryse,  albeit  still  enveloped  in  a golden  haze,  was  to  the 
author  of  the  Periplus  a real  country,  and  no  mere  myth- 
ical fairy-land.  Rumours,  it  would  seem,  must  have 
reached  him  concerning  it — rumours  upon  which  he  be- 


/‘EJtSICCS  STXU$ 


o 

£ 


From  Bunbury’s  “ History  of  Ancient  Geography  ” 


CHRYSE  THE  GOLDEN  7 


lieved  he  could  rely — and  this  would  tend  to  prove  that 
the  sea-route  to  China  via  the  Straits  of  Malacca,  even 
though  it  was  not  yet  in  general  use,  was  no  longer  un- 
known to  the  mariners  of  the  East.  We  know  that  less 
than  a century  later  the  sailor  Alexander,  from  whom 
Marinus  of  Tyre  derived  the  knowledge  subsequently 
utilised  by  Ptolemy,  had  himself  sailed  to  the  Malay 
Peninsula  and  beyond,  and  it  may  safely  be  concluded 
that  the  feasibility  of  this  southeastern  passage  had  be- 
come known  to  the  seafarers  of  China  long  before  an 
adventurer  from  the  West  was  enabled  to  test  the 
fact  of  its  existence  through  the  means  of  an  actual 
voyage. 

Ptolemy’s  views  concerning  the  geography  of  south- 
eastern Asia,  derived  mainly  from  the  works  of  his  pred- 
ecessor Marinus  of  Tyre,  may  best  be  appreciated  by  a 
glance  at  the  map  here  reproduced  from  Mr.  Bunbury’s 
History  of  Ancient  Geography.  His  primary  misconcep- 
tion of  the  Indian  Ocean  as  another  and  vaster  Mediter- 
ranean was  responsible  for  many  of  his  geographical  dis- 
tortions, yet  if  this  preconceived  notion,  and  the  bias 
which  it  imparted  to  his  ideas,  be  borne  in  mind,  it  will 
be  found  that  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  in- 
formation supplied  to  him  was  derived  originally  from  a 
man  who  had  first-hand  knowledge  of  the  sea-route  to 
China.  Marinus  had  quoted  the  sailor  Alexander  as 
journeying  from  the  Golden  Chersonese  along  a coast- 
line which  “ faced  south  ” — that  is  to  say,  ran  from  west 
to  east, — for  a period  of  twenty  days,  until  a port  called 
Zabae  was  reached.  From  this  point,  he  declared,  ships 


8 


FURTHER  INDIA 


sailed  eastward  of  south  for  a still  longer  period  until  the 
town  of  Cattigara  was  reached.  The  exact  locality  of 
Cattigara  has  been  much  disputed,  Mannert  placing  it  in 
Borneo,  while  Bunbury  inclines  to  the  belief  that  some 
point  on  the  coast  of  Cochin  China  is  indicated.  On  the 
other  hand  Marinus  and  Ptolemy  both  expressly  state 
that  Cattigara  was  a city  of  the  Sinae,  or  in  other  words 
a port  of  southern  China,  and  a study  of  the  route  fol- 
lowed at  a later  period  by  Arabian  and  European  travel- 
lers alike  reveals  the  fact  that  few  ever  passed  on  a long 
voyage  to  the  eastward  of  the  Golden  Chersonese  unless 
they  were  bound  for  the  Celestial  Empire.  Furthermore, 
it  will  be  found  that  it  is  only  by  taking  some  port  of 
southern  China  as  our  starting  point — viz.,  as  being  the 
town  of  Cattigara — that  Ptolemy’s  itinerary  can  be  made 
to  have  any  sequence  or  meaning.  The  Sinus  Magnus, 
which  is  described  as  the  first  sea  crossed  after  leaving  Cat- 
tigara, would  then  be  the  China  Sea  ; the  Promontorium 
Magnum,  dividing  it  from  the  Sinus  Perimulicus,  which 
is  perhaps  identical  with  Marinus’s  Zabae,  would  be  some 
point  upon  the  shores  of  Indo-China,  corresponding  with 
Champa,  the  kingdom  which  at  a later  period  was  an  in- 
variable port  of  call  for  vessels  making  the  China  voyage. 
Similarly,  the  Sinus  Perimulicus  itself,  which  is  described 
as  washing  the  eastern  shores  of  the  Golden  Chersonese, 
would  be  the  Gulf  of  Siam ; the  Golden  Chersonese 
would  be,  as  it  is  usually  agreed  that  it  is,  the  Malay 
Peninsula ; and  the  Sinus  Sabaricus,  on  the  western 
shores  of  the  Chersonese,  would  correspond  to  the  Straits 
of  Malacca  from  their  southern  portals  to  the  Gulf  of 


CHRYSE  THE  GOLDEN  9 


Martaban.  The  island  of  Iabadius,  or  Sabadius — the 
reading  of  the  name  is  doubtful — has  generally  been 
taken  to  represent  Java,  though  there  appears  to  be 
slight  reason  for  the  assumption,  Java  lying  at  a consid- 
erable distance  from  the  sea-route  to  China,  and  being  to 
a much  later  time  visited  with  comparative  infrequency 
by  travellers  from  the  west.  On  the  other  hand,  Sumatra 
lay  close  to  the  track  of  ships  plying  between  India  and 
the  Far  East ; was  a regular  port  of  call  from  the  period 
to  which  belongs  the  first  authentic  records  of  the  China 
voyages  ; and  could  not  fail  to  be  sighted  by  ships  run- 
ning up  the  Straits  of  Malacca.  It  will  be  seen  from  the 
above  that  it  is  only  by  starting  from  southern  China, 
that  is  by  recognising  Cattigara  as  a port  of  the  Celestial 
Empire,  possibly  the  Zayton  of  the  medieval  wanderers, 
or  a town  which  preceded  Zayton,  as  Zayton  itself  pre- 
ceded Canton,  that  Ptolemy’s  descriptive  outline  can  be 
applied  to  the  true  geographical  facts  of  the  region  dealt 
with.  No  straining  of  probabilities  becomes  necessary  ; 
no  statements  have  to  be  elaborately  explained  away ; 
and  it  may  be  stated  without  fear  of  refutation  that  this 
ceases  to  be  the  case  if  any  other  point  be  taken  as  the 
site  of  Cattigara. 

To  the  account  of  the  distances  said  to  have  been  sup- 
plied to  Marinus  by  the  sailor  Alexander,  no  real  impor- 
tance can  be  attached.  It  was  the  rough  estimate  of  a 
man  who  was  probably  very  ignorant,  and  it  was  given 
to  a geographer  who  was  not  averse  to  making  a bold 
guess  if  thereby  the  reported  facts  could  be  forced  to  fit 
in  with  ideas  previously  conceived.  The  same  qualifying 


io 


FURTHER  INDIA 


consideration  must  be  held  to  apply  to  the  direction  in 
which  ships  making  the  voyage  to  Cattigara  are  said  to 
have  sailed  after  passing  the  Golden  Chersonese.  The 
brief  examination  of  Ptolemy’s  itinerary  already  attempted 
will  suffice  to  establish  the  probability  that  Marinus’s  in- 
formant had  actually  travelled  over  the  sea-route  to 
southern  China,  and  that  the  geographical  confusions 
shown  in  the  map  of  the  world  according  to  Ptolemy 
were  due  less  to  error  in  the  information  supplied  than 
to  the  faulty  reasoning  occasioned  by  misconceptions 
on  the  part  of  the  philosophers  themselves. 

Although,  as  we  have  seen,  the  earliest  indication  of 
any  conception  of  lands  lying  far  to  the  east  and  south 
of  the  valley  of  the  Ganges  on  the  part  of  the  learned  of 
the  West  belongs  to  the  year  a.  d.  43,  and  the  first  men- 
tion of  the  Chersonesus  Aurea  occurs  in  the  works  of 
Marinus  of  Tyre  about  a century  later,  it  would  appear 
that  the  name  which  the  latter  was  the  first  to  attach  to 
a definite  locality  had  become  familiarly  known  to  savants 
in  Europe  at  a somewhat  earlier  period.  This  came 
about,  it  is  probable,  through  the  accounts  brought  back 
by  mariners  who  had  themselves  made  the  voyage  to 
this  distant  quarter  of  the  earth,  of  whom  there  is  no 
particular  reason  to  believe  that  Marinus’s  Alexander 
was  the  first.  The  name  itself  would  be  suggestive  of 
great  wealth ; distance  would  lend  to  it  its  customary 
enchantment ; the  vague  information  current  concerning 
it  would  serve  to  deck  it  with  a halo  of  mystery,  with 
the  glamour  of  romance ; whence  it  would  naturally  arise 
that  the  Golden  Chersonese  would  come  to  be  regarded 


VOSTLV.  PAHS 


•TACORAEI 


16ERINGAE  ■ 


PCDP.ANC 


EXTRA 


INDAPRATHAE 


EASAVAR1- 


DA&ASAE ■ 


•TlUDAE'QVl 
■SVNT-ENI-*  ■ 


iBCSADAE 
ITJATJ  - 

crassi*  et 

jpoMTurri- 

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aorae- 


ghucitis  -\reoio 


CIRRADIA-IN  QVA 
,OPTlMVM  ALABA- 

v strvm  nr  ■ 


•aone 


avkea 


ilND^h 


GANC.CTICVN  ■ 


AKGENTIA 


•MAGNVS  - SINVS 


-BESYNGITI 

ANTROPOf 


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.ESTORV- 


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Ptolemy’s  Further  India,  as  interpreted  in  the  XVth 
Century 

From  the  Roman  Ptolemy  of  1490 


CHRYSE  THE  GOLDEN  n 


as  the  source  whence  was  drawn  the  almost  fabulous 
riches  of  which  history  held  the  record. 

In  this  connection  a curious  passage  may  be  cited 
from  Josephus’s  Antiquities  of  the  Jews,  which  was  writ- 
ten during  the  latter  half  of  the  first  century,  at  a period, 
it  will  be  noted,  prior  to  the  date  of  the  works  of  Marinus 
of  Tyre.  Here,  in  speaking  of  the  pilots  furnished  to 
Solomon  by  Hiram  of  Tyre,  he  writes  : 

"To  whom  Solomon  gave  this  command  that  they 
should  go  along  with  his  stewards  to  the  land  that  of  old 
was  called  Ophir,  but  now  the  Aurea  Chersonesus,  which 
belongs  to  India,  to  fetch  gold.” 

Here,  it  will  be  remarked,  Josephus  speaks  of  the 
Chersonese  with  a certain  familiarity,  as  of  a region  with 
the  existence  of  which  his  readers  would  be  in  some  sort 
acquainted,  but  apart  from  this  he  makes  two  very  defi- 
nite statements — that  Ophir  and  the  Chersonesus  Aurea 
are  one,  and  that  Ophir  belonged  to  India.  The  second 
of  these  would  seem  to  imply  that  he  recognised  that  the 
Chersonese  was  not  an  integral  portion  of  India,  and 
since  the  name  had  never  been  borne  by  any  country  of 
the  West,  he  must  have  intended  to  convey  the  meaning 
that  it  lay  beyond  the  valley  of  the  Ganges,  which  in  his 
day  was  recognised  as  the  eastern  boundary  of  Hindu- 
stan. 

It  is  now  generally  held  that  Ophir  itself  was,  in  all 
probability,  a mere  distributing  centre  situated  some- 
where in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  entrance  to  the  Red 
Sea,  and  that  the  pilots  of  Hiram  of  Tyre  did  not  guide 
the  Stewards  of  Solomon  to  the  actual  source  of  the  gold 


12 


FURTHER  INDIA 


which  went  to  deck  the  temple  of  Jehovah  in  Jerusalem. 
The  discovery  of  vast  mines  in  southern  Africa,  which 
are  believed  to  date  from  an  immense  antiquity,  has 
led  of  late  years  to  the  conclusion  that  this  was  the 
region  whence  Solomon  in  his  glory  drew  his  stores  of 
gold. 

M.  Auguste  Pavie  in  the  second  volume  of  his  monu- 
mental work  on  Indo-China  contends  that  ancient  Kam- 
bodia  is  the  original  Ophir,  and  that  to  the  whole  of  the 
vast  peninsula,  rather  than  to  its  southern  portion  of 
Malaya,  was  applied  in  ancient  days  the  name  of  the 
Chersonesus  Aurea.  The  wonderful  civilisation  of  the 
Khmers  which  brought  into  being  the  splendid  buildings 
of  Angkor,  of  which  more  will  be  said  in  a later  chapter, 
testifies  to  the  existence  of  a mighty  empire  in  Indo-China 
which  must  once  have  been  a centre  of  wealth  and  com- 
merce. The  vast  siltage,  borne  down  from  the  remote 
interior  by  the  floods  of  the  Mekong,  has  changed  the 
face  of  the  country  within  historical  times,  and  Angkor 
Thom  itself,  now  distant  nearly  two  hundred  miles  from 
the  coast,  was  once  a seaport.  That  the  Khmer  Empire 
must  in  its  day  have  played  an  important  part  in  the  his- 
tory of  eastern  Asia  cannot  be  doubted,  but  M.  Pavie’s 
arguments,  plausible  though  they  often  are,  fail  to  carry 
conviction  when  he  seeks  to  prove  the  identity  of  Kam- 
bodia  with  Ophir.  Also,  as  regards  his  contention  that 
the  whole  of  Indo-China  was  included  in  the  term  the 
Golden  Chersonese,  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  what  is 
in  fact  an  immense  peninsula  was  ever  recognised  as  such 
by  the  early  mariners  and  geographers.  Its  bulk  is  too 


CHRYSE  THE  GOLDEN  13 


great  for  its  peninsular  character  to  be  easily  or  immedi- 
ately appreciated,  while  the  Malay  Peninsula,  that  long 
and  slender  tongue  of  land  projecting  to  the  south  of  the 
continent  of  Asia,  forces  an  understanding  of  its  nature 
upon  the  least  scientific  and  observant  traveller. 

In  these  circumstances  M.  Pavie’s  arguments  seem  to 
be  impossible  of  acceptance,  and  the  recent  discovery  in 
the  Malayan  State  of  Pahang — the  home  of  apes  and 
ivory  and  peafowl — of  immense  gold  mines  of  very 
ancient  date  and  of  a workmanship  that  has  no  counter- 
part in  southeastern  Asia,  supplies  an  ample  reason  for 
the  designation  of  “ golden  ” so  long  applied  to  the 
Chersonese.  Here,  hidden  away  under  the  shade  of  the 
primeval  forest,  are  excavations  which  must  have  yielded 
in  their  time  tons  of  the  precious  metal,  and  if  Josephus 
spoke  truly,  and  did  not,  as  is  more  probable,  merely 
hazard  a bold  conjecture,  here  perhaps  are  to  be  found 
in  the  heart  of  the  Chersonesus  Aurea  the  mines  of 
Solomon  the  King.  Of  the  race  that  worked  them,  of 
the  slaves  who  toiled  and  suffered  and  died  therein,  we 
to-day  possess  no  clue,  for  this,  the  story  of  the  earliest 
exploration  of  a portion  of  southeastern  Asia,  is  lost  to 
us  forever.  Here,  however,  at  the  very  outset  of  our 
enquiry,  we  obtain  a glimpse  of  one  of  those  pregnant 
suggestions  wherewith  Asia  impresses  our  imaginations 
by  virtue  of  her  antiquity,  her  wonder  and  her  mystery. 
Hers  is  the  land  of  buried  story,  of  hidden  records,  of 
forgotten  romance.  The  East  baffles  while  she  fascinates 
us  : fascinates  because  she  baffles.  Sphinx-like  she  pro- 
pounds riddles  which  few  can  answer,  luring  us  onward 


H 


FURTHER  INDIA 


with  illusive  hopes  of  inspiring  revelations,  yet  hiding 
ever  in  her  splendid,  tattered  bosom  the  secrets  of  the 
oldest  and  least  amply  recorded  of  human  histories. 

After  the  time  of  Ptolemy  there  follows  a long  and 
barren  period  during  which  little  advance  in  geographical 
knowledge  was  made  by  the  nations  of  the  West,  nor  is 
it  until  the  sixth  century  that  anything  resembling  new 
light  is  thrown  by  a European  upon  the  topography  of 
southeastern  Asia.  Moreover  the  shedder  of  that  light 
is  himself  a grotesque  figure,  an  angry  theologian  bent 
upon  proving  the  impossible,  and  moved  to  intense  fury 
by  the  impiety  of  those  who,  touching  more  nearly  the 
skirts  of  truth,  have  not  the  advantage  of  agreeing  with 
him.  This  is  Cosmas  Indicopleustes,  a monk  and  an 
Alexandrian  Greek,  who  between  530  and  550  A.  d.  set 
himself  the  task  of  proving  that  the  universe  was 
fashioned  after  the  model  of  the  Ark  made  by  the 
Children  of  Israel  in  the  desert.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
follow  him  through  the  mazes  of  his  argument,  all  of 
which  he  supported  by  texts  culled  from  the  Scriptures, 
but  out  of  the  tissue  of  absurdities  to  which  he  pinned 
his  faith  two  facts  emerge.  While  inveighing  in  season 
and  out  of  season  against  those  who  clung  to  the  belief 
that  the  world  was  globular,  and  against  the  unspeakable 
naughtiness  of  the  adherents  to  the  poisonous  doctrine 
of  the  antipodes,  he  displays  a sound  knowledge  of  the 
sea-route  to  China,  stating  that  a ship  after  travelling 
sufficiently  far  to  the  east,  must  turn  to  the  north,  and 
must  sail  in  that  direction  “ at  least  as  far  as  a vessel 


CHRYSE  THE  GOLDEN  15 


bound  for  Chaldea  would  have  to  run  up  the  Straits  of 
Hormuz  to  the  mouths  of  the  Euphrates  ” in  order  to 
reach  the  Celestial  Empire,  thus  disposing  once  for  all  of 
Ptolemy’s  theory  of  a great  southern  continent  enclosing 
the  Indian  Ocean  upon  which  the  land  of  the  Sinae,  or 
southern  Chinese,  was  formerly  supposed  to  be  situated. 
Cosmas,  too,  as  Yule  remarks,  “ was  the  earliest  writer 
to  speak  of  China  in  a matter-of-fact  way,  and  not  as  a 
country  enveloped  in  a half-mythical  haze.”  In  his 
work,  therefore,  we  find  the  first  written  record  of  an 
appreciation  on  the  part  of  a European  of  the  true 
relative  positions  of  China  and  of  the  lands  of  south- 
eastern Asia.  The  advance  in  knowledge  thus  indicated 
is  not  great,  but  it  is  considerably  ahead  of  that  possessed 
by  Ptolemy,  and  for  the  sake  of  the  truth  which  he  was 
the  earliest  to  disseminate  we  may  forgive  Cosmas  the 
monk  the  farrago  of  nonsense  with  which  he  surrounded 
it,  and  also  much  of  his  bigotry  and  rage. 

Meanwhile  inter- Asiatic  intercourse  by  means  of  the 
sea-routes  had  been  steadily  on  the  increase.  It  was  the 
energy  and  the  enterprise  of  Hippalus,  a Greek, — or  so 
we  are  led  to  believe  by  the  classical  writers  who  are  on 
this  point  our  only  authorities — which  showed  the  way 
to  the  Arabs  and  the  Persians  across  the  Indian  Ocean, 
but  during  the  centuries  which  followed  upon  his  dis- 
covery, though  an  immense  trade  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  merchants  of  Alexandria,  the  greatest  sea-power  in 
this  quarter  of  the  world,  after  the  decline  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  was  that  of  the  Persians.  As  early  as  the 
middle  of  the  second  century  the  Romans  had  es- 


i6 


FURTHER  INDIA 


tablished  trading-stations  at  Aden,  on  the  shores  of 
Arabia  and  in  Socotra,  while  during  the  same  period  the 
commerical  relations  between  the  Persians  and  India  had 
undergone  a great  expansion.  Before  the  first  half  of 
the  fifth  century  had  ended  this  commerce  had  been 
considerably  extended  while  the  Roman  trade  had  de- 
clined, and  according  to  Masudi  and  Hamza  of  Ispahan 
the  port  of  Hira  was  visited  at  this  time  by  numbers  of 
vessels,  not  only  from  the  mainland  of  India,  but  also 
from  distant  China.  The  rise  of  the  Muhammadan 
power,  while  it  closed  the  portals  of  the  East  to  the 
nations  of  Europe,  gave  to  the  Muslims  the  practical 
monopoly  of  Asiatic  trade  with  the  West,  and  during 
their  prime  the  Khalifs  of  Baghdad  were  well-nigh 
supreme  in  the  Indian  Ocean.  Muhammadan  colonies 
were  scattered  broadcast  over  the  eastern  world,  and  in 
758  the  followers  of  the  Prophet  in  China  were  suffi- 
ciently numerous  to  be  able  to  cause  serious  disturbances 
in  that  country.  The  existence  of  these  colonies  too 
made  it  possible  for  a Muslim  to  travel  with  ease  in 
almost  any  quarter  of  the  East,  and  the  excellent  Ibn 
Batuta,  the  professional  religious  man  who  preyed  upon 
the  Faithful  with  such  satisfaction  to  himself  and  to  his 
victims,  though  he  was  one  of  the  earliest  to  give  to  us  a 
detailed  account  of  his  wanderings,  was  certainly  not 
among  the  first  Muhammadans  to  take  advantage  of  the 
opportunities  which  the  accident  of  their  religion 
afforded  to  them. 

It  has  already  been  noted  that  no  mention  of  the  sea- 
route  to  China  occurs  in  any  work  prior  to  that  of  Mari- 


CHRYSE  THE  GOLDEN  17 


nus  of  Tyre,  despite  the  fact  that  the  overland  route  from 
India  to  the  Celestial  Empire  had  been  in  general  use 
from  a very  remote  period.  It  is  certain,  however,  that 
the  existence  of  the  former  means  of  communication 
must  have  been  known  to  the  mariners  of  the  Far  East 
long  before  any  rumour  concerning  it  filtered  through  to 
the  geographers  of  Europe.  The  overland  route  was 
still  much  frequented  as  late  as  the  thirteenth  century, 
when  the  Polos  passed  over  it  on  their  journey  to  China, 
and  its  greater  antiquity  would  suffice  to  account  for  the 
fact  that  it  was  familiarly  known  to  traders  from  the 
West  who  visited  India  long  before  the  sea-passage  had 
been  heard  of  by  them.  It  is  none  the  less  impossible 
to  believe  that  the  latter  highway  was  unknown,  at  any 
rate  to  the  natives  of  Southern  China,  some  time  before 
the  beginning  of  our  era.  The  Chinese  civilisation  is  one 
of  the  most  ancient  in  existence,  presenting  as  it  does 
the  twin  marvel  of  an  immense  antiquity  and  of  a pre- 
cocious development  inexplicably  arrested.  The  Chinese 
are  said  to  have  understood  the  use  of  the  mariner’s 
compass  as  early  as  b.  c.  2634,  and  though  there  is  reason 
to  question  the  accuracy  of  this  statement,  their  written 
records  concerning  the  properties  of  the  lodestone  date 
from  early  in  the  second  century  of  our  era,  and  it  is 
thought  that  the  compass  was  in  practical  use  long  be- 
fore the  earliest  treatise  of  this  kind  which  has  come 
down  to  us.  If  this  were  so,  it  is  at  least  possible  that 
Chinese  seamen  were  accustomed  to  venture  out  of  sight 
of  land  before  ever  Hippalus  made  his  way  across  the 
Indian  Ocean,  and  a glance  at  the  map  will  show  that 


i8 


FURTHER  INDIA 


few  opportunities  for  doing  so  would  occur  unless  voyages 
from  the  point  of  Kambodia  to  the  Malay  Peninsula  and 
the  islands  of  the  Archipelago,  or  again  from  the  Straits 
of  Malacca  to  Ceylon  and  India  had  become  habitual. 

We  may  conclude  with  a fair  show  of  probability  that 
the  littorals  of  the  China  Sea,  the  Gulf  of  Siam  and  the 
Straits  of  Malacca  were  explored  by  the  seamen  of  China 
not  earlier  than  the  coast-line  between  the  mouths  of  the 
Indus  and  the  Straits  of  Hormuz  was  skirted  by  the  fleet 
of  Alexander  under  Nearchus  in  the  fourth  century  b.  c. 

Again,  the  unmistakable  impress  of  Hindu  influence 
which  is  to  be  detected  in  the  architecture  of  the  Khmers 
of  Kambodia,  several  of  whose  buildings  date  from  200 
b.  c.,  demonstrates  the  fact  that  intercourse  between  India 
and  Indo-China  must  have  been  frequent  at  a very  early 
period,  and  such  intercourse  would  almost  certainly  have 
been  conducted  by  sea.  It  has  even  been  accepted  by 
many  as  a fact  that  Gauthama  Buddha  himself  visited 
Kambodia,  and  if  this  were  so — the  matter  is  one  which 
is  hardly  susceptible  of  mathematical  proof — it  would 
presuppose  communication  between  India  and  Indo- 
China  as  early  as  500  B.  c. 

Owing  to  the  fact,  already  noted,  that  after  the  rise  of 
the  Muhammadan  power  the  sea-borne  trade  between 
western  and  eastern  Asia  passed  almost  exclusively  into 
the  hands  of  Muslims,  the  first  detailed  accounts  of  the 
sea-route  to  China  come  to  us  from  the  Arabian  and 
Persian  geographers.  The  earliest  Arabic  manuscript  of 
this  kind  belongs  to  the  year  a.  d.  851,  and  has  been 
edited  and  translated  by  M.  Reinaud,  the  French  Ori- 


CHRYSE  THE  GOLDEN  19 


entalist.  The  first  few  pages  of  this  work  are  lost,  but 
its  earlier  portion  was  obviously  written  by  one  who  had 
himself  made  the  China  voyage.  The  second  part  of 
the  book  dates  from  the  year  916,  and  is  the  work  of  a 
certain  Abu  Zaid  Hassan,  a native  of  Siraf  on  the  Per- 
sian Gulf,  who,  though  he  does  not  appear  to  have  had 
any  personal  experience  of  the  trade-route  dealt  with, 
must  have  enjoyed  opportunities  of  obtaining  first-hand 
information  from  those  who  had  themselves  made  the 
voyage.  The  portion  of  the  book  written  by  the  mer- 
chant-mariner is  in  the  nature  of  sailing  directions,  and 
the  Arab’s  genius  for  mispronouncing  foreign  tongues, 
which  is  second  only  to  that  of  the  Englishman,  causes 
the  proper  names  given  in  the  manuscript  to  present  a 
series  of  puzzles  to  the  enquirer.  M.  Reinaud  himself 
would  appear  to  have  completely  misunderstood  the 
route  indicated,  and  by  far  the  best  identification  which 
has  yet  been  suggested  is  to  be  found  in  an  article  from 
the  pen  of  M.  Alfred  Maury  in  the  Bulletin  de  Geographic 
for  the  year  1 846. 

It  would  be  tedious  to  examine  in  detail  the  grounds 
for  the  identification  of  the  various  seas  and  lands  there 
set  forth,  but  the  facts  to  be  gathered  from  an  examination 
of  the  somewhat  wearisome  itinerary  laid  down  in  the  man- 
uscript are  that  ships  sailing  from  India  for  China  took, 
during  the  ninth  century,  approximately  the  following 
course.  After  touching  at  Ceylon  and  the  Nicobars, 
they  came  to  anchor  in  a port  near  the  northeastern  ex- 
tremity of  Sumatra.  Thence,  after  occasionally  touch- 
ing at  a State  on  the  western  coast  of  the  Malay  Penin- 


20 


FURTHER  INDIA 


sula,  they  made  their  way  to  the  southern  outlet  of  the 
Straits  of  Malacca,  halted  at  the  island  of  Bentan  to  take 
in  fuel  and  water,  or  for  similar  purposes  at  an  island  of 
the  Natuna  group,  came  to  port  once  more  at  some  har- 
bour either  of  the  eastern  shores  of  the  Malay  Peninsula, 
Siam  or  Kambodia,  passed  on  to  Champa,  and  thence  to 
Zayton  or  some  other  port  of  the  southern  provinces  of 
China.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  route  thus  traced  is 
practically  identical  with  that  over  which  we  have  sup- 
posed the  sailor  Alexander  to  have  journeyed,  and  in  a 
later  chapter  we  shall  find  that  a precisely  similar  course 
was  followed  by  all  the  medieval  travellers  to  and  from 
China  of  whose  wanderings  wre  have  a record.  The  sea- 
route  via  southeastern  Asia  had  by  this  time  become  a 
well-beaten  track,  but  certain  ports  of  call  were  used  to 
the  exclusion  of  all  others,  and  the  primary  value  of  this 
great  highway  was  as  a means  of  getting  to  and  from 
China,  few  wanderers  being  tempted  to  stray  from  the 
appointed  path  which  custom  had  marked  out  for  ships 
plying  in  these  waters. 

The  establishment  of  important  commercial  colonies 
in  China  by  the  Arabs  and  the  Persians,  concerning 
which  Abu  Zaid  Hassan’s  portion  of  the  manuscript 
furnishes  some  interesting  particulars,  presupposes  that 
the  passage  to  the  Celestial  Empire  via  the  Straits  of 
Malacca  and  the  China  Sea  was  now  made  by  these  peo- 
ple with  great  frequency,  and  the  ports  of  call  along  that 
route,  which  seem  to  have  been  practically  the  same  from 
the  time  of  Marinus  of  Tyre  to  that  of  Ibn  Batuta  who 
returned  from  his  wanderings  in  1 347,  were  also  to  some 


CHRYSE  THE  GOLDEN  21 


extent  used  by  the  Arabs  as  settlements  and  trade 
depots.  It  is  obvious  from  internal  evidence  furnished 
by  the  works  of  Abu  Zaid,  of  Masudi,  Edrisi  and 
Abulfeda  that  a few  Arab  mariners  turned  aside  from  the 
beaten  track  sufficiently  far  for  Java  to  become  a country 
which  was  comparatively  well-known,  but  this  was  the 
exception,  not  the  rule,  and  nowhere  do  we  find  reason 
for  thinking  that  the  Arabs  ever  ventured  far  inland,  save 
only  in  China  itself.  In  spite  of  a wider  and  surer 
knowledge  of  Malaya  and  Indo-China  than  any  which 
at  this  time  was  possessed  by  Europeans,  the  notions  en- 
tertained concerning  these  regions  by  the  Arabian 
geographers  were  still  very  vague  and  imperfect. 
Ptolemy’s  misapprehension  concerning  the  Mediterranean 
character  of  the  Indian  Ocean  was  endorsed  and  per- 
petuated by  successive  Arabian  geographers,  many  of 
whom  doubtless  arrived  at  this  false  conclusion  independ- 
ently of  their  great  predecessor.  Some  held  with  him 
that  the  African  continent  was  prolonged  in  such  fashion 
that  it  lay  to  the  south  of  Malaya,  while  others  were  of 
opinion  that  the  great  southern  terra  incognita,  whose 
existence  they  had  deduced  from  unknown  premises, 
was  divided  from  Africa  by  a narrow  strait.  For  the 
rest,  in  spite  of  persistent  attempts  to  treat  geographical 
questions  in  a scientific  manner,  and  to  divide  the 
habitable  world  into  climates,  or  latitudes  and  longitudes, 
the  general  ideas  at  which  they  arrived  concerning  the 
comparative  sizes  and  the  relative  positions  of  various 
countries  were  extraordinarily  inexact. 

This  is  well  illustrated  by  the  two  maps  showing  the 


22 


FURTHER  INDIA 


world  according  to  Masudi  and  Edrisi  respectively,  here 
reproduced  from  M.  Reinaud’s  excellent  edition  of  La 
Geographie  d'  Aboulfeda.  Masudi,  who  wrote  during 
the  first  half  of  the  tenth  century  and  who  was  a con- 
temporary of  Abu  Zaid  Hassan,  had  not  only  travelled 
extensively,  but  was  also  well  versed  in  the  literature  of 
his  subject  and  had  had  access  to  older  Arabic  works 
which  have  since  been  lost  to  us.  His  book  therefore  rep- 
resented the  widest  and  soundest  geographical  knowledge 
of  his  time,  yet  a glance  at  the  chart  which  puts  his  con- 
ception of  the  universe  before  us  in  a convenient  form 
suffices  to  demonstrate  how  radical  were  many  of  his  mis- 
conceptions concerning  the  form  and  nature  of  the  earth’s 
surface,  and  how  great  was  his  confusion  in  matters  of 
detail.  For  him  Indo-China  and  Malaya  consisted  of 
one  lozenge-shaped  peninsula  to  the  south  of  which  lay 
Sumatra  in  the  same  latitude  as  Ceylon,  while  Java  was 
situated  further  to  the  eastward  almost  on  the  same 
parallel.  China  itself  was  also  a peninsula,  separated 
from  that  of  Indo-China  by  a great  gulf,  while  far  to  the 
south  of  all  lay  a vast  terra  incognita  which  had  its  be- 
ginning near  the  south  of  the  Sudan. 

Edrisi’s  chart  is  even  more  confusing,  although  its  author 
who  lived  and  wrote  under  King  Roger  II  of  Sicily, 
completed  his  work  in  1153-54.  He  fills  almost  the 
whole  of  the  southern  hemisphere  with  the  African  con- 
tinent, makes  the  Mediterranean  occupy  an  altogether 
disproportionate  space  in  the  universe,  vastly  exaggerates 
the  size  of  Sicily  and  of  Ceylon,  while  to  neither  India 
nor  China  does  he  give  the  prominence  which  rightly 


The  World,  according  to  Edrisi  The  World,  according  to  Masudi 


CHRYSE  THE  GOLDEN  23 


belongs  to  it.  When  he  passes  to  the  eastward  of  A1 
Rami,  or  Sumatra,  he  becomes  involved  in  inextricable 
confusion. 

An  examination  of  these  two  charts  will  serve  better 
than  aught  else  to  bring  home  to  the  reader  the  exceed- 
ingly rudimentary  state  of  geographical  knowledge  even 
as  late  as  the  twelfth  century,  yet  it  must  be  remembered 
that  at  this  period  the  geographers  of  Arab  nationality 
were  far  in  advance  of  Europeans,  and  that,  notwith- 
standing their  many  errors,  substantial  progress  is  shown 
by  their  work  if  it  be  compared  with  the  shadowy  sur- 
mises and  guesses  of  Marinus  and  Ptolemy,  more  espe- 
cially with  regard  to  southeastern  Asia. 


CHAPTER  II 


THE  MEDIEVAL  WANDERERS 

B ^HE  first  of  the  European  wanderers  in  the  Far 
East,  the  personal  narrative  of  whose  adven- 
tures  has  come  down  to  us,  is  Messer  Marco 
Polo,  the  Venetian.  The  wonderful  story  of  the  great 
overland  journey  made  by  this  traveller  in  the  company 
of  his  father  and  uncle  when  they  set  out  from  Constan- 
tinople “ to  traverse  the  world,”  will  be  dealt  with  in  a sep- 
arate volume,  and  need  not  here  be  recapitulated  in  detail. 
For  us  the  travels  of  Marco  Polo  begin  and  end  with  his 
passage  across  the  seas  and  amidst  the  islands  of  south- 
eastern Asia  on  his  return  journey  from  Cathay  to  Europe. 
And  once  again  the  fate,  which  we  have  noted  as  doom- 
ing the  Indo-Chinese  peninsula  to  obscurity,  causes  this 
portion  of  Marco  Polo’s  narrative  to  be  more  tangled 
and  more  destitute  of  detail  than  almost  any  other 
chapters  in  his  book.  The  slovenliness  of  his  descriptions 
of  the  countries  between  Champa,  or  Chamba,  as  he  calls 
it,  and  Ceylon,  and  the  scant  measure  of  reliable  fact 
wdiich  is  to  be  extracted  from  his  account  of  his  journey, 
moved  the  late  Mr.  John  Crawfurd  to  contemptuous  in- 
dignation. “ The  information  communicated,”  he 
declares,  “ is  more  like  what  might  be  expected  from  a 
Chinese  than  a European  traveller,  and  the  author  who 
had  gone  to  China  at  eighteen,  and  lived  there  for  twenty 

24 


Marco  Polo,  from  a painting  in  the  Gallery  of 
Monsignore  Badia  at  Rome 

From  the  book  of  Ser  Marco  Polo  (by  permission  of  Mr.  John  Murray) 


MEDIEVAL  WANDERERS  25 


years,  was  probably  in  his  turn  of  thinking  as  much  a 
Chinese  as  a European.”  What  hampered  Marco  Polo 
in  his  observations  of  southeastern  Asia  far  more  ma- 
terially than  any  accident  of  training,  however,  was  that 
after  traversing  the  entire  continent,  and  living  for  a 
score  of  years  in  the  land  of  the  Great  Kaan,  the  com- 
parative insignificance  of  the  countries  of  the  Malay 
Archipelago  must  have  struck  him  with  peculiar  force. 
There  is  internal  evidence  of  some  such  attitude  of  mind 
in  many  of  his  references  to  these  regions.  In  several 
passages  Polo  is  constantly  to  be  detected  comparing 
everything  he  saw  with  that  greater  world  of  Cathay  in 
which  so  large  a portion  of  his  life  had  been  spent,  and 
it  is  not  wonderful,  therefore,  if  he  dismissed  with  a bare 
mention  lands  and  peoples  which  fell  so  far  short  of  the 
standard  whereby  he  scaled  them. 

Setting  out  from  the  port  of  Zayton  in  the  province  of 
Fokien,  Marco  relates  that  “ after  sailing  for  some  three 
months  ” he  and  his  shipmates  arrived  “ at  a certain 
island  towards  the  south  which  is  called  Java.  . . . 

Quitting  this  island  they  continued  to  navigate  the  Sea 
of  India  for  eighteen  months  before  they  arrived  whither 
they  were  bound,”  viz.,  at  Hormuz.  The  journey  was 
made  in  immense  Chinese  junks,  several  of  which  carried 
crews  of  250  or  260  men.  The  Java  of  which  Marco  Polo 
here  speaks  is  not  Java  proper,  but  “ Java  the  Less,”  as 
he  elsewhere  names  it,  or  in  other  words,  Sumatra.  To 
the  voyage  to  the  mouth  of  the  Straits  of  Malacca,  there- 
fore, must  be  added  the  run  up  the  coast  of  Sumatra  to  a 
point  near  its  northeastern  extremity,  an  insignificant 


26 


FURTHER  INDIA 


distance  it  is  true,  but  one  which  a sailing  vessel  may 
take  a long  time  in  covering,  since  in  these  sheltered 
waters  navigation  is  not  aided  by  the  constant  winds  of 
the  monsoon.  When  every  allowance  has  been  made, 
however,  it  must  be  confessed  that  Marco  Polo’s  journey 
from  China  to  Sumatra  occupied  a prodigious  time. 

When,  therefore,  Sumatra  was  at  last  reached  the  force 
of  the  northeast  monsoon  was  spent,  and  Marco  Polo 
and  his  comrades  had  to  make  up  their  minds  to  a five 
months’  stay  upon  the  island  while  they  awaited  the 
return  of  a favourable  wind. 

Concerning  the  lands  of  southeastern  Asia  he  has  no 
very  illuminating  information  to  supply.  Champa,  or 
Chamba,  was  to  him  remarkable  chiefly  because  it  was  a 
“ very  rich  region,  having  a King  of  its  own,”  whose 
children  numbered  326  souls ! He  notes  the  vast 
quantity  of  tame  elephants  in  use  in  this  country,  the 
“ abundance  ” of  lignaloes,  and  the  existence  of  extensive 
forests  of  a jet-black  timber,  called  bonus , but  his  account 
of  Kublai  Kaan's  attempts  to  subdue  the  country  is 
startlingly  inaccurate.  His  description  of  Java — not 
“ Java  the  Less,”  but  the  smaller  and  richer  island  over 
which  the  Dutch  flag  flies  to-day — is  hardly  more  exact, 
and  it  is  plain  that,  lying  as  it  does  far  from  the  highway 
between  China  and  the  West,  he  never  personally  visited 
it.  He  greatly  overestimates  its  size,  mentions  that  its 
king  had  no  over-lord,  and  credits  it  with  many  vegetable 
products  which  it  does  not  produce,  the  fact  being  that 
Java  was  at  this  period  the  great  emporium  of  the  trade 
of  the  Malayan  Archipelago,  the  produce  of  the  islands 


MEDIEVAL  WANDERERS  27 


being  brought  thither  and  thence  distributed  to  the 
markets  of  the  world.  The  islands  of  Sondur  and 
Condur,  700  miles  from  Champa,  at  which  Marco’s  ship 
would  appear  to  have  touched,  are  the  Pulau  Kondor  of 
to-day,  once  the  site  of  a factory  of  the  British  East 
India  Company,  and  now  a penal  settlement  to  which 
convicts  are  sent  from  Saigon,  the  capital  of  French  Indo- 
China.  Locac — “ a good  country  and  a rich ; (it  is  on 
the  mainland) ; and  it  has  a king  of  its  own.  The  people 
are  idolaters  and  have  a peculiar  language,  and  pay 
tribute  to  nobody,  for  their  country  is  so  situated  that  no 
one  can  enter  it  to  do  them  ill,” — is  also  described  as  yield- 
ing brasil  “ in  great  plenty ; and  they  also  have  gold  in 
incredible  quantity.”  “ They  also,”  he  adds,  “ have 
elephants  and  much  game.  In  this  kingdom  too  are 
gathered  all  the  porcelain  shells  which  are  used  for  small 
change  in  all  these  regions.”  The  identity  of  Locac  has 
been  much  disputed,  but  the  strongest  case  is  made  out 
by  Sir  Henry  Yule,  who  places  it  in  the  Malay  Peninsula, 
somewhere  in  what  is  now  called  Lower  Siam. 

Marco  Polo’s  Pentam,  “ a very  wild  place,”  500  miles 
towards  the  south,  is  almost  certainly  the  island  of  Bentan 
near  the  entrance  to  the  Straits  of  Malacca,  “ and  when 
you  have  gone  these  sixty  miles  and  again  about  thirty 
more,  you  come  to  an  island  which  forms  a kingdom,  and 
is  called  Malaiur.  The  people  have  a king  of  their  own 
and  a peculiar  language.  The  city  is  a fine  and  noble 
one,  and  there  is  great  trade  carried  on  there,  and  all 
other  necessaries  of  life.”  It  is  impossible  to  disregard 
Polo’s  distinct  assertion  that  Malaiur  was  an  island,  and 


28 


FURTHER  INDIA 


further  the  fact  that  it  is  not  included  in  his  list  of 
Sumatran  kingdoms,  wherefore  it  seems  probable  that  in 
his  day  there  existed  a Malayan  state  of  considerable 
importance,  possibly  upon  the  island  on  which  the  town 
of  Singapore  now  stands. 

Sumatra,  or  “ Java  the  Less,”  is  dealt  with  in  some- 
what greater  detail.  In  speaking  of  Ferlec  (Perlak)  he 
says  : 

“ This  kingdom,  you  must  know,  is  so  much  fre- 
quented by  the  Saracen  merchants  that  they  have  con- 
verted the  natives  to  the  Law  of  Mahommet — I mean  the 
townspeople  only,  for  the  hill-people  live  for  all  the  world 
like  beasts,  and  eat  human  flesh,  clean  or  unclean.  And 
they  worship  this,  that,  and  the  other  thing ; for  in  fact 
the  first  thing  they  see  on  rising  in  the  morning,  that 
they  do  worship  for  the  rest  of  the  day.” 

We  have  here  yet  another  proof  of  the  frequency  with 
which  the  Arab  merchants  resorted  to  Malaya,  and  a 
hint  at  the  length  of  that  intercourse,  for  even  the  more 
civilised  sections  of  a community  do  not  become  con- 
verted to  an  alien  faith  save  after  long  and  intimate  asso- 
ciation with  its  professors. 

Basma  (Pasei),  another  Sumatran  State,  declared  itself, 
Marco  Polo  tells  us,  to  be  subject  to  the  Great  Kaan,  though 
it  paid  him  no  regular  tribute,  only  sending  him  presents 
from  time  to  time.  Ibn  Batuta,  the  Arab  traveller,  when 
he  returned  from  China  some  fifty  years  later,  made  the 
voyage  in  a ship  which  belonged  to  “ the  King  of  Su- 
matra ” who  had  been  to  pay  homage  to  the  Emperor, 
and  it  is  possible  that  this  Muhammadan  potentate  may 


MEDIEVAL  WANDERERS  29 


have  been  no  other  than  the  then  Raja  of  Pasei.  It  is 
in  writing  of  this  State  that  Polo  tells  us  of  wild  elephants 
and  of  “ numerous  unicorns,  which  are  very  nearly  as 
big.”  His  description  of  these  latter  monsters  is  de- 
lightful : 

“ They  have  hair  like  that  of  a buffalo,  feet  like  those 
of  an  elephant,  and  a horn  in  the  middle  of  the  forehead, 
which  is  black  and  very  thick.  They  do  no  mischief, 
however,  with  the  horn,  but  with  the  tongue  alone  ; for 
this  is  covered  all  over  with  long  and  strong  prickles  (and 
when  savage  with  any  one  they  crush  him  under  their 
knees  and  then  rasp  him  with  their  tongue).  The  head 
resembles  that  of  a wild  boar,  and  they  carry  it  ever  bent 
towards  the  ground.  They  delight  much  to  abide  in 
mire  and  mud.  ’T  is  a passing  ugly  beast  to  look  upon, 
and  it  is  not  in  the  least  like  that  which  our  stories  tell  us 
of  as  being  caught  in  the  lap  of  a virgin  : in  fact ’t  is  alto- 
gether different  from  what  we  fancied.” 

Here,  in  spite  of  some  flowers  of  fancy,  we  have  no 
sort  of  difficulty  in  recognising  the  rhinoceros,  a truly 
different  creature  to  the  graceful  unicorn  of  our  legends; 
but  it  is  curious  that  the  Sumatran  species  is  two  horned, 
and  that  while  it  has  hair  like  that  of  a water-buffalo,  it 
carries  its  head  far  more  erect  than  does  the  one-horned 
variety  commonly  met  with  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Straits  of  Malacca.  One  cannot  help  fancying  that  Polo 
had  actually  seen  a specimen  of  the  one-horned  rhinoc- 
eros, and  that  he  subsequently  heard  of  the  existence  of 
the  creature  in  Sumatra,  for  on  the  whole  he  describes 
the  animal  with  wonderful  accuracy. 


3° 


FURTHER  INDIA 


Another  interesting  passage  about  Basma  is  as  follows  : 
“ I may  tell  you  moreover  that  when  people  bring 
home  pigmies  which  they  allege  come  from  India,  ’t  is  all 
a lie  and  a cheat.  For  these  little  men,  as  they  call  them, 
are  manufactured  on  this  Island,  and  I will  tell  you  how. 
You  see  there  is  on  this  Island  a kind  of  monkey  which 
is  very  small  and  hath  a face  like  a man’s.  They  take 
these,  and  pluck  out  all  the  hair,  except  the  hair  of  the 
beard  and  on  the  breast,  and  then  they  dry  them  and 
stuff  them  and  daub  them  with  saffron  and  other  things 
until  they  look  like  men.  But  you  see  it  is  all  a cheat ; 
for  nowhere  in  India  nor  anywhere  else  in  the  world 
were  there  ever  men  seen  so  small  as  these  pretended 
pigmies.” 

The  creature  here  referred  to  is  obviously  the  yellow 
gibbon,  found  in  great  numbers  in  the  Malay  Peninsula 
and  in  Sumatra,  an  ape  of  peculiarly  human  aspect,  tail- 
less, and  though  of  a purely  arborial  habit  unable  to 
walk  save  upon  its  hind  legs.  If  Polo  is  right,  the  man- 
ufacture of  “ freaks  ” would  seem  to  be  by  no  means  a 
modern  or  an  American  invention  ! 

Of  Dagroian,  which  would  seem  to  have  occupied  the 
position  of  the  little  State  now  known  as  Pedir,  Polo 
tells  us  that  the  natives  were  in  the  habit  of  devouring 
their  ailing  relatives,  whose  death  they  caused  by  suffo- 
cation as  soon  as  their  recovery  had  been  declared  to  be 
impossible  by  the  medicine-men.  The  reason  of  this 
custom,  as  given  by  Polo,  is  curious  : 

“ And  I assure  you,”  he  says,  “ they  do  suck  the  very 
bones  till  not  a particle  of  marrow  remains  in  them ; for 


MEDIEVAL  WANDERERS  31 


they  say  that  if  any  nourishment  remained  in  the  bones 
this  would  breed  worms,  and  then  the  worms  would  die 
for  want  of  food,  and  the  death  of  these  worms  would  be 
laid  to  the  charge  of  the  deceased  man’s  soul.  And  so 
they  eat  him  up  stump  and  rump.  And  when  they  have 
eaten  him  they  collect  his  bones  and  put  them  in  fine 
chests,  and  carry  them  away,  and  place  them  in  caverns 
among  the  mountains  where  no  beast  nor  other  creature 
can  get  at  them.  And  you  must  know  also  that  if  they 
take  prisoner  a man  of  another  country,  and  he  cannot 
pay  ransom  in  coin,  they  kill  and  eat  him  straightway. 
It  is  a very  evil  custom  and  a parlous.” 

As  every  one  has  learned  from  experience,  who  has 
himself  made  some  attempt  to  collect  versions  of  local 
superstitions,  to  examine  quaint  customs,  and  to  seek  for 
their  explanations  from  the  people  among  whom  they 
prevail,  it  is  fatally  easy  to  misconceive  and  misinterpret 
if  long  and  familiar  intercourse  has  not  given  to  the  en- 
quirer a very  thorough  understanding  of  and  sympathy 
with  the  native  point  of  view.  One  and  the  same  prac- 
tice, regarded  from  the  standpoint  of  those  to  whom  im- 
memorial usage  has  made  it  a matter  of  course,  and  from 
that  of  the  stranger  who  lights  upon  it  unexpectedly, 
assumes  wholly  different  aspects  and  proportions,  and  to 
this  fact  is  due  more  than  half  the  cock-and-bull  stories 
and  patently  absurd  explanations  which  to  this  day  travel- 
lers bring  back  with  them  from  their  sojourns  among 
peoples  whom  they  have  imperfectly  comprehended. 

Of  Lambri — the  Lambrij  of  de  Barros,  the  A1  Ramni 
of  the  Arabs — a State  which  seems  to  have  been  situated 


32 


FURTHER  INDIA 


upon  the  northern  borders  of  the  modern  Acheh,  Polo 
tells  us  that  the  natives  called  themselves  the  subjects  of 
the  Great  Kaan,  that  they  cultivated  brasil,  and  had 
“ plenty  of  camphor  and  all  sorts  of  spices.”  He  also 
relates  that  there  were  here  men  with  tails,  “ a palm  in 
length,”  hairless,  and  “ about  the  thickness  of  a dog’s,” — 
a very  popular  fable  of  the  Archipelago  which  is  still 
current  among  the  natives  in  many  places  even  in  our 
own  time. 

Polo’s  remarks  on  the  subject  of  the  Sumatran  States 
have  been  examined  in  some  detail,  not  because  they 
have  much  intrinsic  importance,  but  because  they  can 
claim  a certain  interest  as  being  the  first  notes  ever  made 
by  a European  upon  the  condition  of  an  island  of  the 
Malayan  Archipelago.  Of  geographical  data  little  in- 
deed is  to  be  won  from  a perusal  of  Messer  Marco’s 
book,  his  itinerary  showing,  what  we  already  knew,  that 
the  sea-route  from  China  via  southeastern  Asia  had  be- 
come a great  highway  of  commerce,  and  that  certain 
ports  of  call,  known  to  the  Arabs  centuries  earlier,  were 
still  used  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others  at  the  end  of  the 
thirteenth  century.  For  the  rest  we  learn  that  the  trade 
in  the  distinctive  products  of  the  Malayan  Archipelago 
was  flourishing  in  1 296,  as  it  had  been,  in  all  probability, 
before  the  days  of  Ptolemy ; that  the  ubiquitous  Arab 
merchants  had  already  established  colonies  and  begun 
the  conversion  of  the  Malays  to  Muhammadanism  on 
the  east  coast  of  Sumatra ; and  that  cannibalism  was  a 
marked  feature  in  the  customs  of  the  pagan  people  of 
the  island.  All  this  adds  little  to  the  story  of  explora- 


MEDIEVAL  WANDERERS  33 


tion  in  southeastern  Asia,  yet  we  have  felt  constrained 
to  follow  Marco  Polo  closely  because  the  figure  of  this 
early  European  wanderer  is  at  once  so  interesting,  so  pic- 
turesque and  so  romantic,  and  the  imagination  is  tempted 
to  dwell  and  linger  over  the  story  of  the  three  lonely 
white  men  who  so  far  as  we  have  any  record,  were  the  first 
of  their  kind  to  sojourn  for  a season  amid  the  mysterious 
forests  of  Malaya — the  lands  which  were  fated  to  become 
at  a later  period  the  heritage  of  the  nations  of  the  West. 

The  impossibility  of  fixing  even  approximately  the 
date  which  first  saw  the  opening-up  of  the  sea-route  to 
China  has  already  been  noted,  and  though  Messer  Marco 
Polo  is  the  earliest  European  wanderer  in  the  Far  East 
who  has  become  for  us  articulate,  it  is  possible  that  many 
before  him  penetrated  to  Cathay  or  traversed  the  seas  of 
which  he  wrote.  The  wide  dissemination  of  Nestorian 
Christianity  from  Jerusalem  eastward  to  Peking,  which 
had  taken  place  by  the  fourteenth  century,  argues  a 
closer  intercourse  between  the  West  and  the  East  via  the 
overland  route  than  is  generally  recognised,  while  the 
celebrated  inscription  disinterred  at  Sing-an-fu  proves  that 
the  heretical  doctrine  was  publicly  preached  in  China,  and 
received  sanction  and  encouragement  from  the  authori- 
ties, as  early  as  the  seventh  century.  That  the  inter- 
course which  is  thus  implied  was  carried  on  wholly  by 
land  seems  the  reverse  of  probable,  yet  the  fact  remains 
that  no  authentic  record  of  Europeans  having  travelled 
through  southeastern  Asia  is  to  be  found  earlier  than  the 
date  of  the  Polo  manuscripts. 


34 


FURTHER  INDIA 


Of  later  wanderers,  however,  there  are  not  a few, 
though  for  the  most  part  their  references  to  Malaya  and 
Indo-China  are  merely  incidental,  and  it  is  curious  to 
note  the  impunity  with  which,  during  the  Middle  Ages, 
solitary  white  men  were  able  to  travel  unmolested 
through  Asiatic  lands.  This  forces  upon  us  a recogni- 
tion of  the  fact  that  the  European  invasion  of  Asia, 
which  began  with  the  rounding  of  the  Cape  by  Vasco 
da  Gama  in  1497,  has  had  a very  injurious  effect  upon  the 
character  of  the  Oriental  peoples.  Prior  to  the  coming 
of  the  white  men  an  extraordinary  measure  of  tolerance, 
even  of  hospitality,  was  extended  to  strangers  without 
distinction  of  race  or  creed.  All  the  early  travellers 
combine  in  bearing  testimony  to  the  care  which  was 
taken  of  aliens  by,  for  example,  the  authorities  in  China, 
the  people  who  before  all  others  are  to-day  a byword  for 
their  suspicious  dislike  of  foreigners.  The  reason  of  this 
change  of  attitude  is  to  be  sought  for,  not  in  the  naughti- 
ness of  the  Oriental,  nor  in  his  moral  degeneracy,  but  in 
the  misconduct  of  the  early  European  filibusters  which 
put  the  East  forever  on  the  defensive,  and  caused  the 
name  of  the  white  man  to  stink  in  the  nostrils  of  the 
brown  peoples. 

The  only  medieval  wanderers  with  whose  passage 
through  southeastern  Asia  we  need  concern  ourselves 
are  Blessed  Odoric  of  Pordone  in  Friuli,  a friar  of  the 
Order  of  St.  Francis,  Abu  Abd  Allah  Muhammad  Ibn 
Abd  Allah  El  Lawati,  commonly  called  Ibn  Batuta, 
« the  traveller  without  peer  of  the  whole  Arab  na- 
tion,” as  he  is  affectionately  called  by  a holy  man  of 


Odoric 


From  the  Cittadino  Italiano 


MEDIEVAL  WANDERERS  35 


his  own  faith,  and  Friar  John  de’  Marignolli,  who  in 
1338  was  sent  by  the  Pope  on  a mission  to  the  Great 
Kaan. 

Odoric  is  supposed  to  have  been  born  in  1 286,  to  have 
begun  his  Oriental  travels  about  1318,  to  have  returned 
to  Europe  in  1 330  or  thereabouts,  and  to  have  dictated 
his  reminiscences  to  a brother  Franciscan  at  Padua  ere 
he  crept  home  to  the  House  of  his  Order  at  Udine, 
where  he  died  in  January,  1331.  He  made  his  way  to 
Constantinople,  thence  overland  to  the  Persian  Gulf, 
eventually  reaching  the  coast  of  Malabar,  where  he 
visited  the  shrine  of  St.  Thomas  the  Apostle  at 
Mailapur,  the  modern  Madras. 

“ Departing  from  this  region  towards  the  south  across 
the  ocean  sea,”  he  tells  us,  “ I came  in  fifty  days  to  a 
certain  country  called  Lamori  (the  State  in  Sumatra 
called  A1  Ramni  by  the  Arabs  and  Lambri  by  Polo)  in 
which  I began  to  lose  sight  of  the  north  star,  as  the 
earth  intercepted  it.  And  in  that  country  the  heat  is  so 
excessive  that  all  folk  there,  both  men  and  women,  go 
naked,  not  clothing  themselves  in  any  wise.” 

The  natives  of  this  State  are  described  as  “ an  evil  and 
pestilent  generation  ” who  had  no  formal  marriage,  all 
women  being  in  common.  This  is  an  allegation  often 
made  against  savage  and  semi-savage  communities  since 
Caesar  wrote  of  Britain,  and  on  closer  examination  it  is 
usually  found  to  be  based  upon  a misunderstanding  of 
native  customs. 

Odoric’s  narrative  is  interesting  because  he  is  the  first 
writer  to  make  mention  of  a “ kingdom  by  name 


36 


FURTHER  INDIA 


Sumoltra,”  doubtless  the  same  as  Polo’s  Samara,  which 
he  places  to  the  south  of  Lamori,  a State  which  later 
gave  its  name  to  the  island  upon  the  coast  of  which  it 
was  situated.  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  fact  of  the 
insularity  of  their  native  lands  was  realised  at  all 
generally  by  the  inhabitants  of  Sumatra,  of  Java  or  of 
Borneo,  and  I greatly  question  whether  the  average 
Malay  of  these  parts,  even  now,  has  any  true  apprecia- 
tion of  these  geographical  facts. 

Odoric  also  mentions  still  further  to  the  south  “ an- 
other realm  called  Resengo,”  though  he  tells  us  naught 
concerning  it.  The  name,  however,  would  lead  us  to 
infer  that  the  country  of  the  Rejang  is  indicated,  the 
State  in  which  the  British  East  India  Company’s  station 
of  Bengcoolen  was  subsequently  established.  Its  inhab- 
itants, of  whom  by  the  way  Polo  makes  no  mention, 
were  among  the  most  civilised  of  the  Sumatrans,  possess- 
ing not  only  a peculiar  language,  but  also  an  original 
written  character. 

From  Sumatra  Odoric  passed  to  Java,  which  he  states 
was  ruled  by  a king  who  had  seven  other  monarchs  tribu- 
tary to  him.  It  is,  he  quaintly  says,  “ the  second  best  of 
islands  that  exist,”  and  he  was  greatly  struck  by  its  riches 
and  by  the  magnificence  of  the  palace  in  which  its  sov- 
ereign had  his  dwelling.  He  adds  that  the  Great  Kaan 
“ many  times  engaged  in  war  with  this  king ; but  this 
king  always  vanquished  and  got  the  better  of  him,"  a 
statement  which  is  historically  true,  Kublai  Kaan  having 
launched  two  unsuccessful  expeditions  against  Java  dur- 
ing the  time  which  had  elapsed  between  Marco  Polo’s 


MEDIEVAL  WANDERERS  37 


passage  through  the  Straits  of  Malacca  and  Odoric’s  visit 
to  the  island. 

Near  Java — a somewhat  vague  term — Odoric  places  a 
country  called  “ Panten,  but  others  call  it  Thalamasyn, 
the  king  whereof  hath  many  islands  under  him.”  It 
produced  sago,  honey,  toddy  and  a deadly  vegetable 
poison,  which  was  used  to  smear  the  blow-pipe  darts  of 
the  natives  who  were  “ nearly  all  rovers,”  or  pirates. 
All  this  points  with  some  certainty  to  Borneo,  and  Ban- 
jarmasin,  which  was  a flourishing  kingdom  as  early  as 
the  eleventh  century,  may  have  been  Odoric’s  Thalama- 
syn, or  Panten  may  have  stood  for  Kalamantan,  a name 
by  which  a portion  of  Borneo  was  known  in  ancient 
times. 

“ By  the  coast  of  this  country  towards  the  south,” 
Odoric  continues,  “ is  the  sea  called  the  Dead  Sea,  the 
water  whereof  runneth  ever  towards  the  south,  and  if 
any  falleth  into  that  water  he  is  never  found  more.” 

At  a later  period  de  Barros  relates  a superstition  of 
the  natives  to  the  effect  that  the  currents  beyond  the 
Straits  of  Bali  acted  in  a similar  manner,  and  it  is  possi- 
ble that  in  this  legend  is  to  be  found  the  germ  of  the 
tale  concerning  the  current  which  wrecked  Sindbad,  and 
cast  him  up,  more  fortunate  than  his  fellows,  upon  the 
bone-strewn  island  whence  he  escaped  by  means  of  the 
subterranean  passage.  To  Odoric  we  also  owe  one  of 
the  earliest  descriptions  of  the  bamboo  “ canes  or  reeds 
like  great  trees,”  and  of  the  rattan,  while  he  further 
speaks  of  stones  found  in  these  “ canes  ” which  were  re- 
garded as  charms  that  conferred  the  advantage  of  invul- 


3» 


FURTHER  INDIA 


nerability  upon  their  wearers.  It  is  curious  to  note  that 
these  siliceous  deposits  are  still  treasured  by  the  Malays 
for  similar  reasons  in  the  present  day. 

Champa,  or  Zampa  as  he  spells  it,  is  the  last  country 
in  this  part  of  the  world  of  which  Odoric  leaves  us  any 
record,  and  here  he  echoes  Polo’s  astonishment  at  the 
number  of  the  king’s  offspring  which  he  places  at  “ a 
good  two  hundred.” 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  summary  that  the 
Blessed  Odoric  does  not  add  materially  to  the  sum  of  our 
knowledge  concerning  the  lands  through  which  he  wan- 
dered, and  his  narrative  is  chiefly  noteworthy  because  it 
demonstrates  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth 
century  it  was  possible  for  a solitary  Italian  friar  to  roam 
up  and  down  the  east  without  let  or  hindrance,  mainly, 
it  must  be  supposed,  at  the  charges  of  those  whom  he 
encountered  on  his  journey.  The  achievement  is  all  the 
more  remarkable  because,  unlike  Ibn  Batuta,  his  religion 
gave  him  no  claim  upon  the  piety  of  the  ubiquitous  Mu- 
hammadan communities. 

The  Arab  traveller,  who  was  born  in  Tangier  on  Feb- 
ruary 24th,  1 304,  set  out  upon  his  wanderings  in  his  twenty- 
first  year.  He  did  not  return  until  1 347.  In  all  he  covered 
more  than  75,000  English  miles,  a respectable  record  even 
in  these  days  of  easy  and  swift  journeying ; wandering  over 
a large  part  of  Asia  before  he  finally  made  his  way  back  to 
Fez,  in  which  place  his  book  was  dictated  by  the  order  of 
the  Sultan.  It  is  a marvellous  record,  and  the  manner  in 
which  it  is  told  is  inimitably  naive  and  amusing,  but  to 
us  its  chief  interest  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  illustrates  in  a 


MEDIEVAL  WANDERERS  39 


striking  manner  the  opportunities  for  travelling  which  in 
the  early  fourteenth  century  were  open  to  any  adventur- 
ous Muslim.  Ibn  Batuta,  professional  holy  man,  regarded 
his  coreligionists  as  created  for  his  comfort  and  conven- 
ience. Wherever  he  went  he  preyed  upon  them  shame- 
lessly, and  deemed  them  sufficiently  honoured  by  being 
suffered  to  minister  to  his  needs,  travelling  in  this  fashion  to 
the  very  ends  of  the  then  known  earth.  He  managed 
things  on  a scale  of  unexampled  magnificence,  and  it  is  our 
good  fortune  that  he  lived  to  tell  his  tale  for  our  delight, 
but  it  is  probable  that  he  was  only  a preeminent  member 
of  a class,  and  that  at  this  period  there  were  numerous 
Muhammadans,  with  a curious  taste  in  wives  and  a rapa- 
cious appetite  for  “ rich  presents,”  who  wandered  up  and 
down  the  world  and  drew  much  profit  from  the  ubiquity 
of  the  great  religious  fraternity  established  throughout 
the  East  by  the  Persian  and  Arabian  merchants. 

Ibn  Batuta  traversed  the  well-worn  route  to  China,  and 
has  little  enough  to  tell  us  concerning  the  lands  of  south- 
eastern Asia.  He  was  duly  impressed  with  the  number 
of  the  king  of  Champa’s  children,  and  noted  the  multitude 
of  tame  elephants  used  in  that  country.  He  touched 
at  some  point  in  the  Malay  Peninsula,  which  he  calls 
Mul-Java,  or  the  mainland  of  Java,  and  he  spent  a 
season  awaiting  the  change  of  the  monsoon  on  the 
island  of  Sumatra.  Here  he  was  present  at  the  marriage 
of  the  daughter  of  his  host — the  “ king  of  Sumatra,”  as 
he  calls  him,  though  this  potentate  only  ruled  over  a 
small  portion  of  the  island — and  the  account  which  he 
gives  of  the  ceremony  might  have  been  written  by  an 


40 


FURTHER  INDIA 


observer  of  a modern  Malay  wedding,  a striking  proof, 
were  proof  needed,  of  the  extraordinary  conservatism  of 
this  people.  For  the  rest  he  has  nothing  new  to  tell  us 
concerning  these  regions,  though  he  shows  us  incidentally 
that  ships  still  adhered  as  of  old  to  the  few  well-known 
ports  of  call  and  rarely  strayed  far  beyond  the  beaten 
track  which  had  been  in  use  for  centuries. 

Friar  John  de’  Marignolli,  a Franciscan  like  Odoric, 
was  born  in  Florence  between  1280  and  1290.  In 
December,  1338,  he  was  sent  from  Avignon  on  a mission 
to  the  Great  Kaan,  and  travelled  overland  to  China, 
returning  to  India  via  Zayton  and  the  Malay  Archipelago 
in  1346  or  1347.  Beyond  the  bare  fact  that  he  left 
Zayton  and  eventually  arrived  at  Columbum  (Quilon)  he 
tells  us  absolutely  nothing,  but  after  some  travels  in  India 
he  paid  a visit  to  an  island  which  he  names  Saba,  and 
clearly  imagines  it  to  be  the  same  as  the  Saba  of  the 
Scriptures.  The  island,  we  learn,  was  so  far  to  the  south 
that  the  polar  star  was  no  longer  visible  ; it  was  ruled  by 
women ; its  queen  possessed  a fine  palace,  the  walls  of 
which  were  decked  with  historical  pictures ; there  was  a 
huge  mountain  on  the  island,  and  there  were  beasts  in 
its  forests  nearly  resembling  human  beings ; elephants 
were  in  use,  especially  among  the  women ; a few  Chris- 
tians lived  there,  and  when  he  quitted  its  shores  he  was 
storm  driven  into  a port  of  Ceylon.  These  are  all  the 
data  which  we  have  concerning  Friar  John’s  Saba,  and  it 
has  been  identified  with  Java  by  Meinert,  and  with  the 
Maldives  by  Professor  Kunstmann.  Colonel  Yule  has 
shown  that  this  latter  theory  is  untenable,  and  declines 


MEDIEVAL  WANDERERS  41 


to  accept  Java  as  the  true  identification  because  it  is 
impossible  to  show  that  female  government  ever  prevailed 
upon  that  island.  He  has,  however,  no  alternative  sug- 
gestion to  make,  and  ends  by  giving  the  puzzle  up  as 
hopeless.  To  me,  however,  it  seems  that  the  best  case 
can  be  made  out  for  north  Borneo,  the  native  name  of 
which  is  Sabah.  The  name  alone  would  be  of  no  sort  of 
importance;  but  its  position  satisfies  the  friar’s  astronomical 
requirements  ; it  is  dominated  by  the  magnificent  mountain 
of  Kinabalu,  round  which  still  cluster  many  of  the  super- 
stitions of  the  natives,  superstitions  which  the  pious  monk 
might  very  easily  identify,  as  in  truth  he  does,  with 
traditions  of  Elias  and  the  Magi ; the  jungles  in  which  the 
mayas,  or  ourang-outang,  abound  may  well  be  said  to 
contain  “ monsters  ” with  faces  like  men ; while  tame 
elephants  were  plentiful  in  Brunei  when  Magellan’s  ships 
visited  the  place  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  the  forests 
of  northern  Borneo  are  the  only  part  of  the  island  in 
which  these  animals  now  run  wild.  More  important  than 
all,  however,  is  the  fact  that  among  the  Dusun  tribes, 
which  compose  the  larger  proportion  of  the  natives  of 
northern  Borneo,  women  occupy  a peculiar  position  and 
influence.  This  is  mainly  due  to  a belief  that  the  world 
— which  the  Dusuns  rightly  regard  as  a very  imperfect 
piece  of  work — was  created  by  the  goddess  Sinemundu 
during  the  temporary  absence  of  her  husband,  Kin- 
horingan,  who  had  designed  a flawless  universe,  and  a 
woman  having  thus  brought  the  earth  into  being,  it  is 
felt  to  be  right  that  women  should  manage  the  spiritual 
affairs  of  the  creatrix’s  world.  Priesthood,  therefore,  and 


42 


FURTHER  INDIA 


not  infrequently,  the  chieftainship  of  a tribe,  are  vested 
among  these  people  in  the  women,  and  this  may  well  be 
a relic  of  female  sovereignty  such  as  is  described  by  Friar 
John.  The  palace,  if  such  a building  ever  existed  in 
northern  Borneo,  has  utterly  disappeared,  together  with 
its  paintings,  but  there  is  evidence  to  show  that  this  part 
of  the  island  has  sensibly  degenerated  in  its  arts  and  in 
the  standard  of  its  civilisation,  while  its  population  has 
dwindled  and  become  debased,  ever  since  its  rediscovery 
by  the  Spaniards  less  than  four  hundred  years  ago. 
Nor  need  we  experience  much  surprise  that  all  tradition 
concerning  the  existence  of  a kingdom  of  such  magnitude 
and  importance  as  that  described  by  Friar  John  should 
have  vanished  so  speedily  from  the  memories  of  the 
Borneans,  for  historical  facts  of  a far  more  recent  date, 
which  are  preserved  for  us  in  the  writings  of  the  European 
travellers  of  the  sixteenth  century,  have  also  passed  into 
oblivion,  leaving  among  the  natives  of  the  island  not  so 
much  as  a whisper  of  story.  In  the  semi-uncivilised 
lands  of  Asia  dynasties  have  risen,  have  flourished,  have 
come  to  proud  maturity,  have  dwindled,  pined  and  dis- 
appeared with  a wonderful  rapidity,  and  when  the  waves 
of  time  have  closed  over  them  they  are  forgotten  with  a 
completeness  which  finds  few  parallels  in  Europe.  It  is 
possible  that  the  dense  forests  of  northern  Borneo  may 
even  yet  yield  up  to  us  some  traces  of  the  wonderful 
palace  which  filled  the  Franciscan  monk  with  awe  and 
admiration.  The  difficulty  of  the  return  voyage  which 
saw  the  monk’s  ship  storm  driven  into  a port  of  Ceylon 
need  not  greatly  trouble  us.  A traveller,  who  fared  from 


MEDIEVAL  WANDERERS  43 


China  to  Malabar  without  saying  a single  word  concern- 
ing the  places  at  which  he  touched  upon  the  way,  may 
be  supposed  capable  of  passing  through  the  Straits  of 
Malacca,  or  even  through  those  of  Sunda,  on  his  way 
from  Saba  to  India,  without  making  any  particular  men- 
tion of  the  fact. 

With  Friar  John  and  his  mysterious  island  we  take 
leave  of  the  portion  .of  our  enquiry  in  which  from  the 
outset  we  have  found  ourselves  groping  through  a fog  of 
doubt  and  of  conjecture.  We  have  noted  the  frequency 
with  which  the  sea-route  to  China  was  used  by  men  of 
numerous  races  from  very  early  times,  and  the  compara- 
tively exact  information  concerning  the  Far  East  which 
from  time  to  time  was  brought  home  by  wanderers  re- 
turning to  the  West.  It  is,  therefore,  a matter  of 
considerable  surprise  to  find  that  when  these  regions  were 
rediscovered  by  the  Portuguese  and  Spaniards  in  the  six- 
teenth century  they  were  regarded  by  the  whole  of 
Europe  as  worlds  undreamed  of.  The  scant  knowledge 
possessed  by  the  ancients  of  India  extra  Gangein  and  of 
the  Chersotiesus  Anrea  had  been  practically  forgotten ; 
the  more  accurate  and  detailed  information  supplied  by 
Marco  Polo  and  his  successors  had  been  dismissed  as  in- 
credible, or  had  been  scorned  as  the  purest  inventions 
born  of  unruly  or  disordered  imaginations ; the  immense 
force  of  Islam  had  reared  a wall  between  Europe  and 
Asia  which  for  a long  period  the  former  was  powerless  to 
scale.  Even  the  Book  of  Messer  Marco  himself  had 
come  to  be  regarded  as  a piece  of  mere  fiction,  and  ac- 
cordingly by  the  time  the  first  Portuguese  vessels  made 


44 


FURTHER  INDIA 


their  way  round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  seeking  a new 
highroad  to  India,  the  minds  of  even  the  learned  of 
Europe  presented  something  like  a tabula  rasa  upon 
which  was  inscribed  none  of  the  facts  concerning  south- 
eastern Asia  that  had  been  collected  by  the  geographers 
and  mariners  of  antiquity,  which  had  been  added  to  by 
many  Arabian  writers,  and  which  had  received  detailed 
confirmation  from  the  European  wanderers  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages.  It  is  in  the  coming  of  the  Portuguese,  there- 
fore, that  the  exploration  of  Malaya  and  of  Indo-China 
by  the  peoples  of  the  west  may  properly  be  said  to  have 
had  its  beginning. 


CHAPTER  III 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  FILIBUSTERS 

IT  was  in  November,  1497,  that  Vasco  da  Gama, 
after  those  two  desperate  beatings  to  seaward  and 
tacks  to  the  south  which  have  made  him  famous,  • 
during  which  he  faced  and  overcame,  not  only  the  fury 
of  the  elements,  but  the  fears  and  the  mutinous  murmur- 
ings  of  his  comrades,  came  at  last  to  land  on  the  eastern 
shores  of  southern  Africa.  The  story  of  the  last  great 
tack  is  told  to  us  by  Gaspar  Correa  in  a fashion  which 
leaves  a wonderful  picture  upon  our  memories,  and  his 
words  may  fittingly  be  quoted  here. 

“ As  he  (da  Gama)  was  a very  choleric  man,  at  times 
with  angry  words  he  made  them  silent,  although  he  well 
saw  how  much  reason  they  had  at  every  moment  to 
despair  of  their  lives : and  they  had  been  going  for  about 
two  months  on  that  tack,  and  the  masters  and  pilots 
cried  out  to  him  to  take  another  tack ; but  the  captain 
major  did  not  choose,  though  the  ships  were  now  letting 
in  much  water,  by  which  their  labours  were  doubled,  be- 
cause the  days  were  short  and  the  nights  long,  which 
caused  them  increased  fear  of  death  ; and  at  this  time 
they  met  with  such  cold  rains  that  the  men  could  not 
move.  All  cried  out  to  God  for  mercy  upon  their  souls, 
for  now  they  no  longer  took  heed  of  their  lives.  It  now 
seemed  to  Vasco  da  Gama  that  the  time  was  come  for 


45 


46 


FURTHER  INDIA 


making  another  tack,  and  he  comported  himself  very 
angrily,  swearing  that  if  they  did  not  double  the  Cape, 
he  would  stand  out  to  sea  again  as  many  times  until  the 
Cape  was  doubled,  or  there  should  happen  whatever 
should  please  God.  For  which  reason,  from  fear  of  this, 
the  masters  took  much  more  trouble  to  advance  as  far  as 
they  could ; and  they  took  more  heart  on  nearing  the 
land,  and  escaping  from  the  tempest  of  the  sea : and  all 
called  upon  God  for  mercy,  and  to  give  them  guidance, 
when  they  saw  themselves  out  of  such  great  dangers. 
Thus  approaching  the  land,  they  found  their  labour  less, 
and  the  seas  calmer,  so  they  went  on  running  for  a long 
time,  steering  so  as  to  make  the  land  and  ease  the  ships, 
which  they  were  better  able  to  do  at  night  when  the  cap- 
tain slept,  which  the  other  ships  did  also,  as  they  followed 
the  lantern  which  Vasco  da  Gama  carried : at  night  the 
ships  showed  lights  to  one  another  so  as  not  to  part  com- 
pany. Seeing  how  much  they  had  run,  and  did  not  find 
the  land,  they  sailed  larger  so  as  to  make  it ; and  as  they  did 
not  find  it,  and  the  sea  and  wind  were  moderate,  they 
knew  that  they  had  doubled  the  Cape ; on  which  great 
joy  fell  upon  them,  and  they  gave  great  praise  to  the 
Lord  on  seeing  themselves  delivered  from  death.  The 
pilots  continued  to  sail  more  free,  spreading  all  the  sails ; 
and  running  in  this  manner,  one  morning  they  sighted 
some  mountain  peaks  which  seemed  to  touch  the 
clouds  ; at  which  their  pleasure  was  so  great  that  they  all 
wept  with  joy,  and  all  devoutly  on  their  knees  said  the 
Salve" 

It  is  true  that  Vasco  da  Gama  was  not  the  first  of  the 


THE  FILIBUSTERS 


47 


Portuguese  mariners  to  double  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
the  feat  having  already  been  performed  by  John  Infante 
and  Bartholomew  Dias,  and  that  da  Gama  had  with  him 
pilots  who  had  sailed  with  these  captains.  It  is  true  also 
that  da  Gama,  unlike  Magellan  and  Columbus,  was  not 
the  originator  of  the  design  which  it  fell  to  his  lot  to 
carry  into  effect,  and  that  he  owes  his  fame,  less  to  his 
own  adventuresome  spirit  and  to  his  individual  enterprise 
and  initiative,  than  to  the  happy  accident  of  his  selection 
by  the  King  of  Portugal  for  the  post  of  captain-major  of 
the  pioneering  fleet.  All  this  must  be  admitted,  but 
nothing  can  weaken  the  impression  which  we  receive 
from  Correa’s  narrative  of  the  dogged  strength,  the  grim 
resolution,  the  unshakable  courage,  moral  and  physical 
of  the  man.  The  ships  held  upon  that  cruel  two-months’ 
tack,  through  angry  seas,  through  cold  and  tempest,  with 
seams  gaping  under  the  long  strain,  with  crews  half-fam- 
ished by  the  bitter  weather,  mad  afraid,  and  worn  to 
death  with  weary  toiling  at  the  sails  and  pumps,  and 
never  once  did  they  swerve  from  the  appointed  course, 
because  “ the  captain-major  did  not  choose!”  When 
every  soul  in  all  that  fleet  was  calling  upon  God  in  his 
extremity,  and  was  beseiging  the  captain  with  entreaties 
to  abandon  the  desperate  enterprise,  he  alone  was  de- 
termined, fearless,  and  answered  their  prayers  with  fierce 
threats  of  yet  other  tacks  which  he  would  take  if  this  one 
failed  to  accomplish  the  purpose  upon  which  his  will  was 
set.  Here  in  a few  words  we  have  the  man  revealed  to 
us,  and  if  even  in  this  the  hour  of  his  greatest  achieve- 
ment we  see  traces  of  the  ruthlessness,  the  absence  of  all 


48 


FURTHER  INDIA 


care  or  sympathy  for  others,  which  later  led  him  into  the 
commission  of  crimes  more  cruel  than  those  of  Cortez  or 
Pizarro,  we  see  also  in  him  the  embodiment,  as  it  were, 
of  the  strenuous  spirit  of  Portugal  at  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century — the  spirit  which  made  possible  the 
miracles  of  conquest  which  then  were  wrought  in  Asia, 
the  spirit  which  awoke  that  bitter,  impotent  hatred  of  the 
white  men  which  still  lingers  in  the  East  in  the  tradi- 
tions of  a people  little  apt  to  forgive  or  to  forget. 

After  Vasco  da  Gama  had  opened  up  the  new  highway 
of  trade  to  the  East  which,  diverting  the  wealth  of  Asia 
from  its  old  markets  on  the  shores  of  the  Adriatic,  ruined 
many  an  Italian  city  while  it  brought  a hitherto  un- 
dreamed of  prosperity  to  the  towns  of  Portugal,  it  be- 
came the  custom  for  a large  and  well-equipped  fleet  to 
sail  from  Lisbon  in  the  spring  of  each  year.  These 
fleets  bore  with  them  reinforcements  for  the  white  ad- 
venturers in  Asia  wherewith  to  carry  on  the  ruthless  war 
which  then  was  raging  between  the  newcomers  and  the 
ancient  kingdoms  of  the  East.  They  bore  too  large 
numbers  of  men  fired  by  a desire  to  win  for  themselves 
a share  of  the  plunder  concerning  which  such  dazzling 
accounts  had  reached  Europe — men  who,  like  Alexander, 
lusted  after  new  worlds  to  conquer,  and  regarded  the  re- 
cently discovered  lands  as  mere  stepping-stones  to  wealth. 
It  was  in  a spirit  of  frank  brigandage  that  the  Portuguese, 
from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  swarmed  into  Asia.  They 
were  utterly  without  any  sense  of  responsibility  in  so  far 
as  the  lands  and  the  men  who  were  their  appointed  vie- 


THE  FILIBUSTERS 


49 


tims  were  concerned,  for  the  belief  in  the  mission  of  the 
white  races  to  order  the  destinies  of  the  East  for  the 
greater  good  of  the  Orientals  is  a comfortable  doctrine 
of  quite  modern  growth.  Instead  they  occupied  in  their 
own  sight  something  of  the  position  of  the  Children  of 
Israel,  and  never  doubted  but  that  the  spoiling  of  the 
Egyptian  must  be  pleasing  to  the  God  of  justice  and 
love.  Moreover,  since  the  Portuguese  were  a people  of 
the  Peninsula,  with  whom  the  hatred  of  the  Moors  was 
an  inherited  superstition,  their  religious  faith  tended  to 
stimulate  them  to  ill-doing,  and  was  in  no  sense  a re- 
straining influence.  Many  of  the  early  adventurers  were 
animated  by  a sincere  zeal  for  their  religion,  and  by  a 
keen  desire  to  force  its  acceptance  upon  all  and  sundry 
whom  they  might  encounter,  and  to  these  the  invasion 
of  the  East  undoubtedly  presented  itself  in  the  light  of  a 
new  Crusade.  The  religious  motive  is  found  cropping 
up  in  the  most  unlikely  people,  and  in  the  most  gro- 
tesquely improbable  circumstances,  throughout  the  his- 
tory of  the  doings  of  the  early  filibusters,  and  the  cruelty 
and  ruthlessness  which  avarice  and  ambition  dictated 
found  their  constant  justification  in  Christian  fanaticism. 
It  is  necessary  to  appreciate  the  existence  of  this  double 
incentive  to  conquest  by  which  the  Portuguese  were  ani- 
mated in  order  to  understand  how  it  was  possible  for  so 
much  wickedness  to  be  done  under  the  cloak  of  religion. 
To  the  filibuster  of  the  sixteenth  century  God  fought 
ever  on  his  side,  and  the  stubborn  fight  in  which  he  was 
engaged  was  battle  done  for  the  Cross.  The  enemy, 
therefore,  was  of  necessity  the  child  of  the  devil,  and  to 


50  FURTHER  INDIA 

such  all  rights  of  person  or  property  were  of  course  de- 
nied. The  earth  and  the  fulness  thereof  was  God’s  gift 
to  his  people ; the  Muhammadan  or  the  pagan  who 
chanced  to  be  in  possession  was  logically  to  be  regarded 
as  a usurper  of  the  Christian’s  inheritance,  and  force  or 
fraud  were  weapons  which  might  be  freely  used  in  order 
to  deprive  him  of  that  to  which,  in  the  sight  of  the  Al- 
mighty, he  had  no  just  claim.  It  was  in  this  spirit  that 
the  Papal  Bulls  divided  the  newly  discovered  earth  be- 
tween the  kings  of  Spain  and  Portugal ; it  was  in  this 
spirit  that  the  filibusters  set  to  work  to  give  effect  to 
those  sweeping  decrees  ; and  it  was  in  this  spirit  that 
deeds  were  wrought  in  Asia  which  have  done  more  than 
aught  else  to  rear  up  between  the  brown  and  the  white 
races  barriers  which  few,  even  in  our  own  day,  have  the 
tact,  the  patience,  the  sympathy  or  the  energy  to  sur- 
mount. 

With  the  first  few  fleets  which  sailed  from  Portugal 
during  the  years  that  succeeded  the  rounding  of  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  we  have  at  present  no  concern, 
since  their  goal  was  India,  and  they  did  not  penetrate  to 
the  seas  or  ports  of  southeastern  Asia.  In  1 508,  how- 
ever, on  April  5th,  of  that  year,  Diogo  Lopez  de 
Siqueira,  the  Chief  Almotacel  of  the  kingdom  of 
Portugal,  set  sail  as  captain  of  four  vessels  with  royal 
instructions  to  explore  and  conquer  Malacca,  a rumour 
concerning  the  wealth  and  importance  of  that  city  hav- 
ing reached  the  Portuguese  in  India,  and  having  by 
them  been  reported  to  headquarters.  A great  deal  has 
been  made  of  the  treachery  of  the  Sultan  of  Malacca, 


THE  FILIBUSTERS 


51 


and  of  his  double-dealing  with  Siqueira,  and  it  is  there- 
fore well  to  note  that  the  latter  came  to  his  kingdom, 
not  merely  in  the  guise  of  a peaceful  trader,  as  others  of 
many  nationalities  had  come  before  him,  but  with  the 
deliberate  design  of  “ conquering  ” the  land.  It  was 
here  that  the  white  men  differed  so  materially  from  the 
Arabs,  the  natives  of  India,  and  the  Chinese,  all  of 
whom  had  during  many  centuries  carried  on  an  exten- 
sive commerce  in  Asia.  With  none  of  these  people 
were  exploration  and  conquest  synonymous  terms.  The 
Hindus,  at  a very  early  period,  had  deeply  impressed 
Java,  Lambok  and  Bali  with  their  influence,  and  they 
have  left  an  enduring  mark  upon  the  superstitious  beliefs 
and  upon  the  magic  practices  of  the  Malayans.  None 
the  less,  there  is  no  record  of  anything  resembling  a 
Hindu  invasion  of  these  islands.  Similarly  the  Mu- 
hammadan traders  settled  in  the  Archipelago  and  in  the 
Malay  Peninsula  had  succeeded,  by  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  in  converting  the  bulk  of  the  native 
populations  to  the  faith  of  Islam,  but  they  had  not 
profited  by  the  moral  and  intellectual  ascendency  thus 
gained  to  wrest  the  reins  of  government  from  the  rulers 
of  the  land.  The  Chinese,  too,  after  the  period  of  the 
great  Tartar  invasion  and  the  innumerable  expeditions 
of  Kublai  Kaan,  had  traded  freely  with  Persia,  with 
India  and  with  Malaya  without  seeking  to  annex  an  inch 
of  foreign  territory.  The  Portuguese,  on  the  other 
hand,  and  many  of  the  white  nations  after  them,  trusted, 
not  so  much  to  peaceful  commerce,  but  to  lawless  pillage 
for  their  speedy  enrichment,  and  the  annual  fleets  sent 


52 


FURTHER  INDIA 


out  from  Lisbon  started  on  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a 
succession  of  filibustering  raids.  Their  objects  were  to 
confirm  the  power  of  Portugal  in  the  regions  already- 
reduced  to  subjection,  to  extend  the  conquest  in  new 
directions,  and  thus  to  squeeze  the  kings  and  the  popula- 
tions of  the  East  dry  of  all  the  wealth  which  they  could 
be  made  to  yield,  employing  for  that  purpose  every 
device  which  cunning  could  suggest,  and  which  force, 
courage,  and  an  unscrupulous  ruthlessness  could  translate 
into  action. 

When  Diogo  Lopez  de  Siqueira  reached  Cochim  he 
found  the  affairs  of  Portugal  in  a condition  which  was 
far  from  edifying.  The  viceroy  for  the  time  being  was 
Dom  Francisco  Dalmeida,  but  the  great  Alfonso 
Dalboquerque,  fresh  from  his  furious  battles  in  the 
Persian  Gulf,  claimed  that  the  government  ought  to  be 
handed  over  to  him  by  virtue  of  certain  documents, 
giving  him  the  reversion  of  the  viceroyalty,  which  he 
had  received  from  the  King  prior  to  his  departure  from 
Portugal.  Dalmeida  was  very  loth  to  resign  his  author- 
ity to  any  man,  least  of  all  to  Dalboquerque  towards 
whom  he  seems  to  have  entertained  a lively  feeling  of 
dislike,  and  at  the  moment  of  the  arrival  of  Siqueira  the 
position  had  become  extremely  critical.  Dalmeida, 
recognising  this,  thought  to  find  a way  out  of  his  diffi- 
culties by  inviting  Siqueira  to  assume  the  governorship 
of  the  Indies,  declaring  that  if  this  could  be  arranged  he, 
Dalmeida,  would  forthwith  set  out  for  Portugal  taking 
Alfonso  Dalboquerque  with  him.  The  prudent  Siqueira, 
however,  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  any  such 


THE  FILIBUSTERS 


53 


proposal.  “ Laissez  moi  done  planter  mes  pois'd  he  said 
in  effect ; for  while  he  did  his  best  to  ingratiate  himself 
with  both  contending  factions,  he  pointed  out  that  he 
had  come  to  the  East  for  the  purpose  of  exploiting 
Malacca,  and  that  his  only  desire  was  to  set  forth  upon 
that  undertaking  so  soon  as  his  ships  should  have  under- 
gone certain  much  needed  repairs.  Eventually,  there- 
fore, taking  with  him  some  of  the  followers  of  Dalbo- 
querque  who  had  incurred  the  anger  of  Dalmeida,  he  left 
the  quarrelsome  atmosphere  of  Cochim,  and  sailed 
across  the  Indian  Ocean  to  the  Straits. 

The  Malay  chronicler  tells  us  in  the  Hikayat  Hang 
Tuah  that  from  the  first  moment  of  their  arrival  in  the 
port  the  strangers  began  to  abuse  the  hospitality  ex- 
tended to  them,  and  that  having  obtained  a grant  from 
the  Sultan  of  as  much  land  as  could  be  enclosed  by  a 
buffalo’s  hide,  they  adopted  the  stratagem  of  the  Pious 
.<Eneas,  and  cutting  it  into  thin  strips  made  it  the  bound- 
ary line  for  a goodly  plot  of  ground.  Upon  this,  so  the 
chronicler  tells  us,  they  proceeded  to  build  a formidable 
citadel  whose  position  menaced  the  town  and  the  royal 
precincts,  whereupon  trouble  ensued.  The  version  which 
comes  to  us  from  Portuguese  sources  is  somewhat  differ- 
ent. Here  we  learn  that  Siqueira  received  a warning 
from  a Javanese  girl,  who  was  the  mistress  of  one  of  his 
men,  that  treachery  was  meditated.  This  girl  swam  off 
to  the  Portuguese  ships  under  the  cover  of  darkness,  and 
brought  word  that  the  Sultan  intended  to  massacre  the 
white  men  at  a great  banquet  to  which  he  would  pres- 
ently invite  them,  and  that  when  this  piece  of  business 


54 


FURTHER  INDIA 


had  been  despatched,  he  would  seize  upon  their  ships. 
This  intelligence,  which  may  quite  possibly  have  been 
true,  does  not  appear  to  have  been  in  any  way  tested  by 
Siqueira,  who  seems  to  have  accepted  it  unreservedly, 
and  to  have  acted  at  once  with  more,  perhaps,  of  promp- 
titude than  of  wisdom.  He  sent  a native  man  and 
woman  ashore  “ with  an  arrow  passed  through  their 
skulls  ” to  the  Sultan,  “ who  was  thus  informed,”  de 
Barros  tells  us,  “ through  his  subjects  that  unless  he  kept 
a good  watch  the  treason  which  he  had  perpetrated 
would  be  punished  with  fire  and  sword.”  The  Sultan 
retaliated  by  arresting  Ruy  de  Araujo,  the  factor,  “ and 
twenty  other  men  who  were  on  land  with  him  attending 
to  the  collection  of  the  cargo  of  the  ships,”  though  it  is 
to  be  noted  that  the  Muhammadan  monarch  used  them 
with  no  such  atrocious  barbarity  as  that  which  the  Chris- 
tian captain  had  practised  upon  his  Malay  victims. 

Siqueira,  finding  his  force  thus  considerably  dimin- 
ished, burnt  two  of  his  vessels,  since  he  had  not  enough 
men  to  navigate  them,  and  sailed  out  of  Malacca,  pro- 
ceeding himself  direct  to  Portugal,  after  despatching  a 
couple  of  vessels  to  bear  the  tidings  of  his  abortive  en- 
terprise to  Cochim,  where  the  great  Alfonso  Dalboquer- 
que  was  now  reigning  unopposed. 

The  news  of  the  check  which  Siqueira  had  received 
caused  considerable  annoyance  to  the  authorities  both  in 
Portugal  and  in  India,  and  on  March  12th,  1510,  Diogo 
Mendez  de  Vasconcellos  with  a fleet  of  four  ships  set  out 
“ to  go  and  conquer  Malacca.”  The  situation  in  India, 
however,  was  at  this  moment  so  critical  that  Alfonso 


Alfonso  Dalboquerque 

From  The  Commentaries  of  Dalboquerque,  by  permission  of  the  Hakluyt  Society 


THE  FILIBUSTERS 


55 


Dalboquerque  refused  to  allow  Vasconcellos  to  proceed 
upon  his  way,  and  retained  him  and  his  fleet  to  aid  him 
in  a combined  attack  upon  Goa.  The  hands  of  the 
greatest  of  the  Portuguese  viceroys  were  more  than 
usually  full  at  this  juncture.  The  coming  of  the  filibus- 
ters had  set  the  whole  of  the  western  coast  of  India  in  a 
flame  of  war ; the  Portuguese  settlements  on  the  island 
of  Socotra  and  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Persian  Gulf 
were  importunate  in  their  prayers  to  Dalboquerque  to 
come  to  their  assistance ; and  meanwhile,  in  distant 
Malacca,  a number  of  white  men,  held  in  captivity  by  the 
Malays,  were  scanning  the  sky-line  to  the  north  hoping 
to  sight  the  rescuing  fleet  for  which,  during  so  weary  a 
period,  they  looked  in  vain. 

By  February,  15 n,  however,  Goa  had  been  retaken, 
and  the  Coromandel  coast  was  for  the  moment  cowed 
into  submission,  wherefore  Dalboquerque  had  leisure  at 
last  to  look  to  the  more  remote  portions  of  his  dominions. 
In  that  month,  accordingly,  he  set  out  for  the  Straits  of 
Hormuz  to  carry  succour  to  those  of  his  countrymen  in 
that  direction  whose  clamour,  backed  by  repeated  orders 
from  the  King  to  erect  a fort  at  Aden,  had  distracted 
him  all  the  time  that  he  was  too  deeply  engaged  in  India 
to  be  able  to  spare  them  a man  or  a ship.  But  the  winds 
proved  adverse,  and  finding  that  he  battled  with  them  in 
vain,  Dalboquerque  decided  to  make  a virtue  of  necessity, 
and  to  turn  his  face  towards  the  Straits  of  Malacca. 
Diogo  Mendez  de  Vasconcellos  who,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, had  been  sent  out  for  the  special  purpose  of  chas- 
tising the  Sultan  of  their  kingdom,  had  throughout 


5<> 


FURTHER  INDIA 


shown  great  restlessness  under  the  restraint  imposed 
upon  him  by  Dalboquerque,  and  at  last,  defying  the 
viceroy,  he  actually  set  sail  for  Malacca  on  his  own  ac- 
count. Dalboquerque,  however,  succeeded  in  recalling 
him,  and  as  a punishment  for  his  insubordination  sent 
him  back  to  Portugal  in  disgrace.  Accordingly  the  task 
of  subduing  the  Sultan  of  Malacca  now  fell  to  Dalboquer- 
que’s  lot  without  the  assistance  of  the  men  actually  ap- 
pointed by  the  King  of  Portugal  for  that  purpose,  and 
the  viceroy  set  about  its  accomplishment  in  his  own 
thorough  fashion. 

The  lawlessness  which  characterised  the  proceedings  of 
the  Portuguese  at  this  period  is  well  exemplified  by  the 
first  incident  recorded  by  the  author  of  the  Commentaries 
as  having  occurred  during  the  voyage  to  Malacca. 
“ When  they  had  got  as  far  as  Ceilao  (Ceylon),”  he  tells 
us,  “ they  caught  sight  of  a ship.  Alfonso  Dalboquerque 
gave  orders  to  chase  her,  and  they  took  her,  and  he  was 
very  glad  to  find  that  it  belonged  to  the  Guzerates,  as  he 
felt  his  voyage  would  now  be  carried  out  safely,  for  the 
Guzerates  understand  the  navigation  of  those  parts  much 
more  thoroughly  than  any  other  nations,  on  account  of 
the  great  commerce  they  carry  on  in  those  places.” 
Here  we  have  given  to  us  an  instance  of  the  acts  of 
unprovoked  piracy  which  the  Portuguese,  from  the 
moment  of  their  arrival  in  the  East,  were  accustomed  to 
commit  as  a matter  of  course ; and  if  some  excuse  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  pilots  were  needed,  no  similar 
justification  can  be  alleged  for  the  capture  of  four  other 
Guzerati  vessels  which  Dalboquerque  chased  and  took 


Malay  Peninsula,  by  Waldsiemuller.  Strassburg 
Ptolemy  1513 


(Copied  from  the  Canerio  map  1502) 


THE  FILIBUSTERS 


57 


between  Ceylon  and  Sumatra.  The  man  who  was 
acting  in  this  fashion,  too,  was  no  irresponsible  free- 
booter, but  the  Portuguese  viceroy  of  the  Indies,  and 
his  piracies  afford  us  a just  index  to  the  spirit  and  con- 
duct of  his  countrymen  in  Asia.  It  is  true  that  sea- 
brigandage  in  the  East  has  been  suppressed  finally  by 
the  nations  of  Europe,  but  it  is  well  to  remember  that  at 
an  earlier  period  the  white  men  themselves  were  the 
most  ruthless  and  daring  of  all  the  rovers  who  infested 
Asiatic  waters. 

The  first  port  touched  at  by  Dalboquerque  was  that  of 
Pedir  in  Sumatra,  where  he  found  one  Joao  Viegas  and 
“ eight  Christians  of  the  company  of  Ruy  de  Araujo,  who 
had  arrived  thus  far  in  their  flight  from  the  city  of 
Malacca,  and  Joao  Viegas  recounted  to  him  how  the  king 
of  Malacca  had  endeavoured  to  force  them  to  become 
Moors,  and  had  ordered  some  of  them  to  be  tied  hand 
and  foot  and  circumcised ; and  they  had  suffered  many 
torments  because  they  would  not  deny  the  faith  of  Jesus 
Christ.”  All  of  which  was  probably  true,  and  was,  of 
course,  excessively  improper,  though  the  Sultan  of 
Malacca’s  conduct  still  compares  favourably  with  that  of 
Siqueira  in  the  matter  of  the  arrow  passed  through  the  skulls 
of  a man  and  a woman.  Viegas  also  told  Dalboquerque 
that  “ a principal  Moor  of  Malacca,”  named  Naodabegea, 
[Nakhoda  Begak]  who  had  instigated  the  Sultan  to  cut  off 
Siqueira,  and  had  subsequently  joined  with  the  Bendahara 
of  Malacca  in  a plot  against  the  throne,  was  even  then  in 
hiding  in  the  neighbouring  Sumatran  kingdom  of  Paseh. 
To  Paseh,  therefore,  Dalboquerque  forthwith  sailed,  and 


5» 


FURTHER  INDIA 


demanded  that  the  “ Moor  ” in  question  should  be  de- 
livered up  to  him,  but  the  King  of  Paseh,  as  became  a 
Malayan  raja , made  all  manner  of  specious  excuses,  and 
professed  his  utter  inability  to  lay  hands  on  the  con- 
spirator. Dalboquerque,  conceiving  that  the  hour  had 
not  yet  come  for  the  declaration  of  hostilities  with  the 
King  of  Paseh,  concealed  his  chagrin  as  best  he  might, 
and  proceeded  on  his  way  to  Malacca.  Chance,  how- 
ever, favoured  him,  for  he  presently  caught  sight  of  a 
large  native  vessel,  which  his  people  captured  after  a hard 
fight.  On  board  this  ship  they  found  Naodabegea  him- 
self, “ half  dead,  without  any  blood  flowing  from  the 
numerous  wounds  which  he  had  received.  Aires  Pereira 
commanded  the  mariners  to  throw  him  into  the  sea  just 
as  he  was ; but  when  they  perceived  that  he  was  richly 
clothed,  they  sought  first  of  all  to  strip  him,  and  then 
they  found  on  his  left  arm  a bracelet  of  bone,  set  in  gold, 
and  when  they  took  this  off  his  blood  flowed  away 
and  he  expired.”  The  survivors  of  the  crew  informed 
Dalboquerque  that  “ the  bracelet  was  formed  of  the  bones 
of  certain  animals  which  were  called  cabals , that  are  bred 
in  the  mountain  ranges  of  the  kingdom  of  Siam,  and  the 
person  who  carries  these  bones  so  that  they  touch  his 
flesh  can  never  lose  his  blood,  however  many  wounds  he 
may  receive,  so  long  as  they  are  kept  on  him.” 

The  term  used  by  the  natives  was  unquestionable 
kebal  (often  pronounced  kcibal  by  the  Malays  of  Sumatra) 
which  means  invulnerable , and  all  they  intended  to  con- 
vey was,  we  may  surmise,  that  the  bracelet  was  a charm 
which  conferred  this  advantage  upon  its  possessor,  and 


THE  FILIBUSTERS 


59 


that  it  had  been  brought  to  the  Peninsula  from  Siam. 
Such  charms  are  worn  to  this  day  by  many  a warrior  in 
Malayan  lands. 

After  taking  this  vessel,  Dalboquerque,  for  some 
unexplained  reason,  retraced  his  steps  towards  Paseh, 
and  fell  in  with  two  native  ships,  one  from  the  Coramandel 
coast,  which  struck  at  once,  and  another  from  Java,  which 
was  only  captured  after  a very  spirited  resistance,  in  the 
course  of  which  the  Javanese  set  fire  to  their  own  craft. 
On  board  this  vessel  Dalboquerque  found  the  unfortunate 
King  of  Paseh,  “ and  when  he  saw  him,”  the  Commentaries 
tell  us  “ he  begged  his  pardon  very  earnestly  for  this  un- 
fortunate affair  ” — in  truth  an  euphemistic  way  of  describ- 
ing such  an  unprovoked  act  of  piracy — “ which  should 
not  have  happened  if  he  had  known  of  his  Royal  High- 
ness being  on  board,  and  he  showed  him  those  cere- 
monies and  that  good  treatment  which  is  due  to  a 
personage  of  such  dignity.”  Dalboquerque  also  promised 
to  aid  the  king  in  subduing  certain  of  his  rebellious  sub- 
jects,— an  engagement  which  cost  him  nothing  since  he 
never  intended  to  keep  it — and  he  then  continued  his 
voyage  to  Malacca,  capturing  a “ very  rich  junk  ” upon 
the  way. 

He  had  already  pillaged  five  Guzerati  ships  between 
Ceylon  and  the  port  of  Pedir ; between  Paseh  and 
Malacca  he  had  taken  three,  one  belonging  to  the 
Coramandel  coast,  one  manned  by  men  from  Java,  and  a 
third  whose  ownership  and  nationality  are  unknown. 
This  was  sufficient  to  spread  the  evil  reputation  of  the 
strangers  far  and  wide  throughout  the  seas  of  south- 


6o 


FURTHER  INDIA 


eastern  Asia,  and  to  set  all  the  countries  bordering  them 
on  the  defensive,  while  he  now  meditated  a more 
decisive  stroke — the  conquest  of  Malacca,  which  then 
was  the  head  and  front  of  all  the  Malayan  kingdoms — 
having  for  his  object  the  establishment  of  the  power  of 
Portugal  in  the  very  centre  of  the  commerce  of  all  the 
eastern  Archipelago. 

Such  then  was  the  first  coming  of  the  European 
filibusters,  with  which  began  the  real  exploration  of  the 
lands  of  southeastern  Asia, — lands  which  were  des  ined, 
with  hardly  an  exception,  to  fall  under  the  dominion  of 
the  white  peoples,  lands  in  which,  after  a weary  period 
of  suffering  and  of  strife,  the  men  of  the  brown  and  yellow 
races  were  to  watch  their  birthrights  pass  into  the  keep- 
ing of  the  strangers. 

It  was  in  dramatic  fashion  that  Dalboquerque  made 
his  entry  into  the  harbour  of  Malacca — the  entry  of  the 
white  men  into  the  inviolate  lands  which  destiny  had 
marked  for  their  possession.  It  was  about  the  hour  of 
sundown,  the  author  of  the  Chronicles  tells  us,  and  to 
one  who  knows  the  Malay  Peninsula  that  phrase  conjures 
up  at  once  a vivid  picture.  The  merciless  heat  of  the 
tropic  day  was  passed ; a grateful  coolness,  which  yet 
carries  with  it  a suggestion  of  melancholy,  of  spent 
energies,  of  exhaustion,  had  succeeded.  The  sun  lay 
upon  the  horizon  out  yonder  in  the  direction  of  Sumatra, 
with  great  banks  of  resplendent  cloud  grouped  about  it ; 
enormous  fan-shaped  rays  of  light  stretched  upward  from 
it  till  they  attained  the  very  summit  of  the  heavens, 


X 


From  The  Commentaries  of  Dalboquerque,  Vol.  III.  By 


THE  FILIBUSTERS 


61 


which  stained  with  every  tint  of  scarlet  and  purple  and 
gold,  showed  here  and  there  little  inlets  of  an  ethereal 
azure.  Beneath  that  glory  in  the  skies,  the  sea,  steel- 
blue  under  the  gathering  darkness,  heaved  gently,  mo- 
notonously, as  a weary  sleeper  draws  his  breath,  a ruddy 
sheen  marking  the  furrows  between  wave  and  wave.  To 
the  landward  the  native  town  clung  to  the  beach, 
swarmed  up  the  sides  of  small  conical  hills,  and  fell  away 
into  the  heavy  forest  inshore.  Near  its  centre  rose  a 
rude  stone  building  surrounded  by  a wall  draped  in 
crowding  creepers,  but  for  the  rest  the  place  was  a hud- 
dle of  thatched  roofs,  rising  at  all  angles,  sloping 
unevenly,  set  in  all  directions  without  order  or  arrange- 
ment, with  a blue  haze  of  smoke  hanging  above 
them  in  the  motionless  air.  In  the  harbour  itself 
junks  from  China,  sharp-nosed  prahus  from  Java  or  the 
Archipelago,  and  fishing-smacks  innumerable  lay  at 
anchor,  and  on  the  yellow  stretch  of  sand  before  the 
town,  crowds  of  men  and  women  strolled  listlessly, 
chaffering  with  the  fisherfolk,  and  enjoying  the  peace 
and  the  coolness  after  the  burden  of  the  day  and  the 
heats. 

That  scene  had  been  enacted  daily,  repeated  in  this 
unchanging  climate  each  succeeding  evening  for  years. 
It  may  be  witnessed  to-day  down  to  its  last  least  detail 
in  the  capital  of  Trengganu  which,  like  ancient  Malacca, 
lies  upon  the  seashore,  and  as  I have  sat  watching  it  in 
this  former  place,  whither  as  yet  the  tide  of  the  white 
man’s  invasion  has  not  yet  attained,  it  has  seemed  to  me 
that  I have  looked  back  through  the  centuries  upon  the 


62 


FURTHER  INDIA 


Malayan  lands  which  as  yet  were  free  from  the  aggression 
of  the  filibusters  of  Portugal. 

But  this  evening  the  beach  was  thronged  more 
densely  than  was  common,  and  there  was  withal  a subtle 
restlessness,  a tenseness  of  expectancy  in  the  air.  Word 
had  reached  Malacca  of  the  approach  of  the  mysterious 
strangers  from  afar,  the  men  with  the  bearded  faces  and  the 
corpse-like  complexions,  the  rumour  of  whose  evil  doings 
on  the  Coramandel  coast  had  carried  into  the  remotest 
corners  of  the  East.  The  besetting  peril  was  at  hand, 
even  at  the  gates  of  the  city,  but  how  it  might  be 
averted,  stayed  or  met  were  problems  surpassing  the  wis- 
dom of  the  wisest. 

And  then,  before  the  last  of  the  daylight  died,  as  the 
mobs  of  gaily  clad  natives  stood  upon  the  shores,  op- 
pressed by  fear,  restless  with  suspense,  their  dark  faces 
darker  in  the  gathering  gloom,  suddenly  the  West  was 
upon  them  ere  they  well  knew  it.  The  fleet  of  Dal- 
boquerque,  “ all  decked  with  flags,  and  the  men  sounding 
their  trumpets,”  swept  into  sight  from  behind  the  shelter- 
ing islands  to  the  north,  the  great  bellying  squares  of 
strangely  rigged  canvas  catching  the  faint  breeze.  On 
and  on  it  came,  inevitable  as  Fate,  the  Power  of  the 
West  sailing  into  the  heart  of  Malaya  unresisted  and  ir- 
resistible, and  with  panic  in  its  heart  the  East  stood  in 
impotence  watching  it  from  the  shore.  One  by  one  the 
vessels  came  to  anchor,  and  then  from  all  there  roared  a 
salvo  of  artillery,  the  salute  of  the  white  men  to  their 
victims,  an  explosion  that  broke  upon  the  peace  of  the 
quiet  scene  and  sounded  the  knell  of  the  brown  man’s 


THE  FILIBUSTERS  63 

free  enjoyment  of  the  lands  which  God  had  given  to 
him. 

We  of  this  latter  age  know  how  much,  in  the  fulness  of 
time,  the  rule  of  the  white  man  had  served  to  ease  the 
burden  of  the  peoples  of  the  Malay  Peninsula  at  least ; 
but  none  the  less  there  is  something  infinitely  pathetic  in 
the  contemplation  of  this  rude  breaking  in  of  the  strangers 
from  the  West,  the  hard  and  restless  workers,  upon  the 
indolent  peace  of  these  ease-loving  peoples  ; the  thought 
of  the  storm-torn  ships  from  distant  Portugal  sailing  in- 
solently into  this  quiet  haven  while  the  dusky  men  of  the 
East  stood  gazing  at  them  fearfully  from  the  shore,  see- 
ing in  their  coming  a sure  presage  of  what  the  future 
held  for  them  and  for  their  children. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  Dalboquerque  there  followed 
negotiations  of  the  usual  wolf-and-lamb  character.  The 
Sultan  of  Malacca  made  haste  to  send  a messenger  to 
the  Portuguese  viceroy,  asking  why  he  had  come  with  so 
great  an  armament,  declaring  that  he  had,  poor  soul,  no 
keener  desire  than  to  live  on  terms  of  amity  with  the  King 
of  Portugal,  “ and  giving  him  to  know  that  the  Bendara 
(Bendahara)  had  been  put  to  death  on  account  of  his 
complicity  in  the  rising  which  had  taken  place  against 
the  Portuguese  captain  (Diogo  Lopez  de  Siqueira)  who 
had  come  to  that  port,  and  had  resulted  in  the  murder  of 
the  Christians  who  were  there  in  the  land,  but  this  was  no 
fault  of  his.”  The  author  of  the  Commentaries  char- 
acterises this  pathetic  attempt  to  delay  the  inevitable  as 
an  “ artful  apology,”  and  tells  us  that  the  great  Alfonso 


64 


FURTHER  INDIA 


“ dissembled  with  ” the  Sultan  in  the  hope  that  he  might 
by  that  means  get  Ruy  de  Araujo  and  the  other  Chris- 
tians— who,  by  the  same  token,  do  not  appear  to  have 
been  murdered — into  his  hands,  and  so  into  safety,  before 
he  delivered  his  contemplated  assault  upon  the  town. 
The  unfortunate  Sultan,  however,  who  saw  in  the  posses- 
sion of  hostages  the  only  lever  by  the  aid  of  which  he 
could  hope  to  bring  pressure  to  bear  upon  the  intruders, 
replied  that  he  could  not  regard  the  surrender  of  the 
prisoners  as  a condition  precedent  to  peace.  He  was 
fully  prepared  to  hand  them  over  to  Dalboquerque,  but 
pleaded  that  an  agreement  of  friendship  should  in  the 
first  instance  be  ratified  between  himself  and  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  King  of  Portugal.  In  the  circumstances 
this  can  only  be  regarded  as  a stipulation  dictated  by 
common  prudence,  the  more  so  when  the  reputation 
which  the  Portuguese  had  earned  for  themselves  in  Asia 
be  remembered,  but  this  attempt  to  “ curb  the  spirit  of 
Alfonso  Dalboquerque,”  as  his  chronicler  calls  it,  served 
only  to  precipitate  the  doom  of  Malacca. 

The  author  of  the  Commentaries  pretends  that  Dal- 
boquerque at  this  time  was  really  averse  from  war,  and 
would  have  been  well  contented  if  a peaceful  settlement 
could  have  been  arrived  at.  But  viewing  the  matter  im- 
partially, we  are  forced  to  accept  the  conclusion  that  war 
was  intended  from  the  first,  and  that  the  only  object  of 
the  preliminary  parleys  was  the  removal  of  the  captives 
from  the  power  of  the  enemy  before  matters  were  pushed 
to  an  extremity.  The  pious  Alfonso,  we  are  told,  seeing 
that  the  Sultan  remained  firm  and  that  he  was  preparing 


THE  FILIBUSTERS  65 

himself  as  best  he  might  to  repel  an  attack,  arrived  at  the 
comfortable  conclusion  that  “ this  was  a judgment  that 
had  come  upon  the  king,  and  that  Our  Lord  desired  to 
make  an  end  of  him  for  good  and  all,  and  to  cast  the 
Moors  and  the  very  name  of  Mafamede,  out  of  the  land, 
and  to  have  his  Gospel  preached  in  these  regions,  and 
their  mosques  transformed  into  houses  of  God’s  praise  by 
means  of  the  King  D.  Manuel  and  by  the  labours  of  his 
subjects,  so  he  gave  orders  for  an  attack  with  armed 
boats  and  two  large  barges  with  heavy  bombards,  with 
the  object  of  viewing  the  men  who  rallied  at  the  alarm, 
and  seeing  where  they  had  stationed  their  artillery,  and 
how  they  managed  their  defence.”  For  your  Portuguese 
filibuster  of  the  sixteenth  century,  while  he  recognised 
the  awful  finger  of  God  guiding  him  in  even  his  most 
unjustifiable  actions,  took  care  that  it  should  lose  nothing 
of  its  force  through  any  neglect  on  his  part  to  “ keep  his 
powder  dry.” 

All  being  now  ready,  and  the  mind  of  the  great  Al- 
fonso determined  upon  war,  councils  were  held,  plans 
laid,  the  scheme  of  attack  explained,  and  two  hours  be- 
fore daybreak  on  the  feast  of  St.  James,  July  25th,  15 11, 
a trumpet  on  board  the  viceroy’s  ship  called  the  men  of 
Portugal  to  arms.  The  force  which  consisted,  according 
to  the  chroniclers,  of  only  800  Portuguese  and  200  na- 
tives of  Malabar  armed  with  swords  and  shields,  was  di- 
vided into  three  bodies  which  delivered  a simultaneous 
assault  upon  the  northern  and  southern  quarters  of  the 
city,  and  upon  the  bridge  by  which  they  were  connected. 
Sounding  their  trumpets,  and  shouting  their  war-cry  of 


66 


FURTHER  INDIA 


Sanctiago  ! (St.  James!)  the  Portuguese  rushed  to  the 
attack,  “ and  on  this,”  says  de  Barros,  “ the  air  was  rent 
with  a confusion  of  noises,  so  that  the  trumpets,  the  can- 
non, and  the  shouts  could  not  be  distinguished  from  one 
another,  the  whole  forming  a doomsday  of  fear  and 
terror.” 

The  Malays  and  the  Muhammadan  traders  who  fought 
with  them  resisted  stoutly,  though  the  mosque  and  many 
of  the  stockades  were  won  from  them,  and  the  white  men 
began  to  entrench  themselves  upon  the  ground  gained. 
All  day  long  the  battle  waged,  and  the  Portuguese  toiled 
at  the  construction  of  their  defences  under  the  merciless 
Malayan  sun,  but  gloss  it  over  though  they  will,  the 
chroniclers  are  forced  to  admit  that  in  the  end  the  assault 
failed,  and  that  by  nightfall  all  the  Europeans  had  been 
obliged  to  withdraw  to  their  ships,  bearing  many  dead 
and  wounded  with  them. 

One  cannot  but  marvel  at  the  stubborn  courage  of 
these  filibusters,  battling  here  under  a tropical  sun  at  a 
distance  of  thousands  of  miles  from  their  base  ; bearding 
the  mightiest  of  the  kings  of  Malaya  in  his  very  strong- 
hold ; and  daring  to  oppose  their  puny  numbers  to  the 
fighting  strength  of  a town  whose  population  was  esti- 
mated at  100,000  souls.  It  was  a stupendous  enterprise, 
almost  insolent  in  its  scorn  of  opposing  odds,  and  no 
parallels  to  it  are  found  in  history  save  in  the  story  of 
the  European  conquests  of  the  earth.  The  supreme  self- 
confidence  which  alone  could  inspire  such  audacity  as 
this,  the  reckless  courage,  and  the  pride  which  held  the 
power  of  the  enemy  so  cheap,  no  less  than  the  wonderful 


THE  FILIBUSTERS 


67 


energy  which  made  success  a possibility,  would  seem  to 
be  qualities  which  are  developed  to  the  full  only  in  the 
European  character,  which  can  be  communicated  to  the 
Oriental  only  when  he  is  upheld  by  the  leadership  of 
white  men  in  whom  he  trusts.  If  the  traditional  reward 
of  the  meek  has  fallen  to  the  lot  of  the  white  nations,  it 
is  not  through  meekness  that  they  have  inherited  the 
earth. 

After  the  first  abortive  assault  upon  Malacca  there  fol- 
lowed a period  of  nine  days  during  which  Dalboquerque 
instituted  a rigorous  blockade  of  the  place  with  a view  to 
starving  it  into  submission.  Once  more  the  slender  band 
of  Portuguese  adventurers  flung  itself  at  the  teeming  na- 
tive city,  and  this  time  the  bridge,  which  was  throughout 
the  key  to  the  entire  position,  was  wrested  from  the  Ma- 
lays, and  they  and  their  allies  were  routed.  On  each  oc- 
casion the  Sultan  of  Malacca  had  himself  taken  an  active 
part  in  the  fighting,  and  in  the  melee  the  elephant  upon 
which  he  was  mounted  was  badly  hurt,  whereupon,  says 
de  Barros,  “ feeling  the  pain  of  its  wound,  it  seized  the 
negro  that  guided  it  with  its  trunk,  and  dashed  him  to 
the  ground,  on  which  the  king,  wounded  in  the  hand, 
dismounted,  and  not  being  recognised,  effected  his  es- 
cape.” And  thus  Malacca  fell,  and  passed  for  ever  out 
of  the  keeping  of  the  Malays,  though  it  was  destined  to 
be  reft  from  Portugal  by  Holland,  from  Holland  by 
Great  Britain,  to  be  surrendered  once  more  to  the  Dutch 
for  a little  space,  and  to  come  finally  into  the  hands  of 
England. 

“ In  this  second  time  of  taking  the  city,”  says  the 


68 


FURTHER  INDIA 


author  of  the  Commentaries,  “ many  of  our  men  were 
wounded,  and  some  of  those  who  were  wounded  with 
poison  died,  but  all  the  others  were  cured,  because 
Alfonso  Dalboquerque  took  very  good  care  to  give 
orders  for  their  cure,  and  of  the  Moors,  women  and 
children,  there  died  by  the  sword  an  infinite  number,  for 
no  quarter  was  given  to  any  of  them.” 

The  city  having  now  fallen  into  his  hands,  and  being, 
as  Dalboquerque  rightly  foresaw,  the  beginning  of  yet 
another  empire  in  the  East,  he  next  set  himself,  with  all 
his  accustomed  energy,  ruthlessness,  shrewdness  and 
wisdom,  to  the  task  of  consolidating  the  power  of 
Portugal  in  the  newly  won  possession. 

Order  was  also  taken  for  the  organisation  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  Malacca ; a coinage  was  instituted ; a gov- 
ernor was  appointed;  and  the  Javanese  headman, 
Utemutaraja,  a man  of  ninety  years  of  age,  and  his 
sons,  being  suspected  of  a conspiracy  against  the 
conquerors,  were  publicly  executed  by  way  of  a salutary 
example  to  all  malcontents.  It  was  their  sheer  ruthless- 
ness, and  their  complete  freedom  from  the  trammels  of  a 
too  exacting  sense  of  justice  that  alone  enabled  the 
Portuguese  to  hold  what  they  had  gotten,  and  to  rule 
teeming  native  populations,  bound  to  them  by  no  con- 
sciousness of  benefits  received,  who  were  simply  cowed 
into  submission.  But  it  is  to  these  qualities  and  to  the 
methods  whose  adoption  followed  from  them  that  the 
eventual  loss  by  Portugal  of  the  bulk  of  her  colonial 
empire  is  to  be  traced.  She  made  no  friends  in  Asiatic 
lands,  and  when  in  the  fulness  of  time  her  European 


THE  FILIBUSTERS 


69 


enemies  fell  upon  her,  the  men  of  the  brown  races,  her 
power  over  whom  she  had  abused,  watched  her  defeat 
with  jubilant  satisfaction,  and  raised  none  save  reluctant 
hands  in  her  defence. 

But  in  another  direction  Dalboquerque  showed  a 
sounder  and  more  far-seeing  policy.  Before  the  second 
assault  had  been  delivered,  he  had  allowed  the  Chinese 
junks,  of  which  mention  has  already  been  made,  to 
start  for  Canton,  only  exacting  from  them  a promise 
that  they  would  put  in  on  their  way  at  the  port 
of  Siam.  With  these  traders  he  despatched  one 
Duarte  Fernandez,  who  had  escaped  from  the  cap- 
tivity which  he  had  shared  with  Ruy  de  Araujo 
and  his  fellows  in  Malacca,  to  act  as  his  ambassa- 
dor at  the  Siamese  Court.  This  man  was  the  first 
European  of  whom  we  have  any  record  to  visit  the 
ancient  capital  of  Ayutha,  some  miles  further  up  the 
Menam  River  than  the  modern  city  of  Bangkok,  and 
thus  from  the  fall  of  Malacca  begins  also  the  earliest 
exploration  of  Siam  by  men  of  the  white  races. 

The  rumour  of  the  daring  deeds  wraught  by  the 
Portuguese  in  Asia  had  already  spread  far  and  wide, 
travelling  with  that  marvellous  speed  which  is  one  of  the 
stock  wonders  of  the  East,  and  the  King  of  Siam,  be- 
tween whose  subjects  and  the  Malays  no  love  was  ever 
yet  lost,  hastened  to  send  a return  embassy  to  Dalbo- 
querque, to  wish  him  all  success  in  his  adventures  in 
Malacca,  and  to  cement  a friendship  between  the  white 
men  and  the  Court  of  Ayutha.  Dalboquerque  in  reply 
despatched  a second  mission  to  Siam  under  one  Antonio 


7o 


FURTHER  INDIA 


de  Miranda,  who  seems  to  have  sailed  round  the  Malay 
Peninsula  as  far  as  Trengganu  (Taranque)  on  the  east 
coast,  whence  he  made  his  way  to  Ayutha  overland 
“ with  horses  and  draft  oxen.”  Beyond  the  bare  fact 
that  this  journey  was  undertaken  no  record  of  it  has 
been  preserved  to  us,  but  even  in  our  own  time  it  would 
be  long  and  arduous,  and  the  traveller  would  have  to 
make  his  way,  mainly  by  means  of  the  seashore  which 
here  is  for  the  most  part  sandy,  through  Kelantan, 
Legeh,  Petani,  and  Senggora  into  Lower  Siam,  and  so 
along  the  Isthmus  of  Kra  to  the  Valley  of  the  Menam. 
It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  such  a journey  was  really 
performed  by  a white  man  as  early  as  the  year  1 5 1 1 or 
1512,  the  more  so  since  sailing  craft  of  many  types  and 
various  sizes  abound  on  this  coast,  and  afford  far 
superior  means  of  transport  to  any  which  in  the  same 
regions  are  found  ashore.  There  is  one  fact,  however, 
which  lends  vraisemblance  to  the  account  given  to  us  by 
the  author  of  the  Commentaries  concerning  the  route 
followed  by  Antonio  de  Miranda.  The  mission  to 
Ayutha  would  seem  to  have  started  from  Malacca 
shortly  before  Dalboquerque  himself  set  out  on  his 
return  to  India,  that  is  to  say  in  the  autumn  of  15 II, 
and  by  that  season  the  northeast  monsoon  would  have 
begun  to  make  itself  felt.  Miranda  sailed  with  the 
Chinese  junks  as  far  as  Trengganu,  and  it  is  almost 
certain  that  by  the  time  he  reached  that  port  the  strong 
headwinds  would  have  made  further  navigation  to  the 
northward  impossible  to  native  vessels.  He  would  then 
have  to  make  his  choice  between  wintering  in  Trengganu 


THE  FILIBUSTERS  71 

and  undertaking  the  arduous  march  to  Ayutha  overland, 
and  as  the  men  of  his  race  and  age  were  little  apt  to  be 
daunted  by  obstacles,  we  may  perhaps  conclude  that  he 
decided  upon  the  latter  alternative.  If  this  be  so,  we 
must  hail  Antonio  de  Miranda,  who  to  us  is  nothing  but 
a name,  as  the  first  if  the  least  articulate  of  the  European 
explorers  of  Lower  Siam  and  a portion  of  the  Malay 
Peninsula. 

The  noise  which  the  invasion  of  Malacca  had  oc- 
casioned had  not  been  without  its  effect  upon  other 
kingdoms  of  Malaya,  and  before  ever  Dalboquerque 
sailed  for  India,  embassies  reached  him  from  the  Sultan 
of  Kampar,  whose  kingdom  was  situated  on  the  western 
shores  of  Sumatra,  who,  though  he  was  a son-in-law  of 
the  ill-fated  Sultan  Muhammad  Shah,  was  moved  by  his 
fear  of  “the  fury  of  the  Portuguese”  to  make  terms  for 
himself  with  the  conquerors.  From  Java  too  came 
overtures  of  friendship,  dictated  by  the  wholesome  dread 
which  the  prowess  of  the  Portuguese  had  inspired,  and 
the  Sultan  of  the  Sumatran  kingdom  of  Menangkabau 
hastened  to  follow  the  example  set  by  his  neighbours. 
Thus  Dalboquerque’s  design  to  build  up  Malacca  as  the 
centre  of  trade  in  southeastern  Asia,  preserving  under 
the  flag  of  Portugal  the  position  which  it  had  occupied 
under  the  rule  of  its  own  kings, — a design  which  he  had 
kept  steadily  in  view  from  the  first — was  accomplished 
with  little  difficulty,  and  the  conquest  of  this  single  port 
served  to  establish  the  power  of  the  aliens  upon  a firm 
basis  in  this  region,  and  through  the  prestige  it  brought 
to  them  secured  immediately  a political  and  commercial 


72  FURTHER  INDIA 

superiority  such  as  had  never  before  been  enjoyed  by 
any  single  kingdom  of  Malaya. 

One  other  thing  was  done  by  the  great  Alfonso  ere  he 
turned  back  to  India  and  to  the  warfare  which  awaited 
him  at  Goa.  He  despatched  a fleet  of  three  ships,  under 
the  command  of  Antonio  Dabreu,  who  had  received 
wounds  and  earned  distinction  in  the  assault  upon  the 
bridge  at  Malacca,  upon  a voyage  of  discovery  in  the 
Malayan  Archipelago.  “ And  the  instructions  which 
Alfonso  Dalboquerque  ^gave  to  Antonio  Dabreu,  were, 
on  no  account  whatever  on  that  voyage  to  take  any 
prizes,  and  to  go  on  board  of  no  vessel  whatever,  nor  to 
consent  to  any  of  his  men  going  on  shore,  but  in  all  the 
harbours  and  in  all  the  islands  at  which  he  might  touch 
to  give  presents  and  gifts  to  the  kings  and  lords  of  the 
country,  and  for  this  purpose  he  ordered  there  should  be 
given  out  many  pieces  of  scarlet  and  velvets  of  Meca, 
and  many  other  kinds  of  merchandise  ; and,  further,  he 
gave  orders  that  the  captains  should  not  interfere  with  a 
single  ship  of  Malacca  or  of  the  other  ports  (whether  they 
belonged  to  the  Moors  or  to  the  Hindoos)  which  he  might 
meet  with  in  these  Clove  islands  (i.  e .,  the  Moluccas)  or 
Apple  islands  taking  in  cargo,  but  rather  show  them 
favour  and  give  them  as  much  assistance  as  he  possibly 
could  ; and  in  the  same  way  that  such  ships  as  these  ne- 
gotiated for  their  cargo,  so  also  in  like  manner  was  he  to 
act  for  his  cargo,  observing  all  the  customs  of  the  re- 
spective countries.”  From  which  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
great  Alfonso  added  the  wisdom  of  a statesman  to  the 
reckless  daring  of  a filibuster,  and  that  on  occasion  even 


THE  FILIBUSTERS  73 

his  religious  zeal  could  yield  to  considerations  of 
policy. 

We  possess,  unfortunately,  no  details  concerning  Da- 
breu’s  voyage,  though  there  seems  to  be  some  reason  to 
believe  that  he  penetrated  sufficiently  far  to  the  south- 
east to  lay  up  his  ships  for  refitting  at  the  island  of  Am- 
boyna,  which  lies  to  the  south  of  the  western  extremity 
of  the  island  of  Ceram.  This  would  lead  us  to  the  infer- 
ence that  the  southern  coast  of  Borneo  was  skirted  by 
Dabreu’s  fleet,  and  that  the  islands  of  the  Celebes  and 
Molucca  groups  were  visited  and  explored  in  so  far,  at 
any  rate,  as  their  principal  ports  were  concerned.  More- 
over, if  Dalboquerque’s  instructions  were  obeyed,  this 
voyage  of  exploration  was  conducted  with  a policy  and 
in  a spirit  which  were  little  common  among  the  adven- 
turers of  the  early  sixteenth  century,  its  object  being  to 
attract  trade  to  Malacca  instead  of  the  commission  of 
acts  of  piracy  and  pillage,  wherefore  the  Portuguese,  who 
had  earned  a great  reputation  as  warriors,  must  have 
been  free  from  molestation,  and  since  they  were  in  no 
aggressive  mood  must  have  sailed  whither  they  would 
without  let  or  hindrance.  This  voyage,  then,  although 
we  possess  such  scant  details  concerning  it,  is  an  event 
of  importance  in  the  history  of  exploration  in  south- 
eastern Asia,  and  to  its  pacific  character  is  largely  to  be 
attributed  the  rapidity  with  which  during  the  succeeding 
fifty  years  the  Portuguese  traders  spread  themselves 
through  the  ports  of  Malaya,  a matter  which  we  shall 
have  to  examine  more  particularly  in  the  following 
chapter. 


CHAPTER  IV 


THE  EXPLORATIONS  OF  THE  PORTUGUESE 

THE  circumstances  which  led  to  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Portuguese  Power  in  Malacca  have 
been  examined  in  the  preceding  chapter  with  a 
minuteness  which  is  only  warranted  by  the  fact  that  this 
event  marks,  as  has  been  already  observed,  the  beginning 
of  a new  epoch  in  the  exploration  of  southeastern  Asia. 
Over  the  explorations  which  followed  upon  the  settle- 
ment of  Malacca  we  shall  now  have  to  pass  with  much 
less  of  detail  and  particularity,  partly  because  consider- 
ations of  space  forbid  more  elaborate  treatment  of  this 
single  portion  of  our  subject,  and  partly  because  the 
records  of  many  wanderings  are  lost  to  us,  while  those 
which  exist  are  too  often  of  a very  fragmentary 
character. 

From  the  despatch  by  Dalboquerque  of  embassies  to 
Siam,  to  Java  and  to  several  Sumatran  kingdoms,  and 
from  the  launching  by  him  of  the  exploring  fleet  to  the 
Moluccas,  dates  the  gradual  founding  of  commercial  posts 
by  white  adventurers  throughout  southeastern  Asia  and 
the  Malayan  Archipelago.  Malacca  stood  to  each  of 
these  as  a base  of  operations ; the  prestige  of  Malacca 
served  to  protect  isolated  outposts  and  individual  traders  ; 
and  the  rumour  of  the  wealth  which  was  to  be  won  in 
these  regions  speedily  caused  a host  of  hungry  folk  to 

74 


THE  EXPLORATIONS  75 


quit  Portugal  in  a continuous  stream  which  poured 
unchecked  into  the  distant  East.  Riches,  rather  than 
power,  were  the  lure  which  tempted  these  men  away 
from  their  fatherland,  and  in  the  pursuit  of  their  object 
no  difficulties  or  hardships  sufficed  to  daunt  them,  no 
humanitarian  considerations  placed  restraint  upon  their 
actions,  and  no  regard  for  the  rights  of  person  or  prop- 
erty vested  in  their  Oriental  victims  served  to  shackle 
their  lawlessness  or  their  licence.  They  kept  faith  with 
no  man,  not  even  with  their  native  allies ; no  sense  of 
honour  or  love  of  fair-dealing  actuated  them  in  their  in- 
tercourse with  the  Asiatics,  whether  questions  of  policy 
or  of  trade  were  in  point ; the  cruelties  which,  on  occa- 
sion, they  committed,  can  only  be  recalled  with  horror  ; 
their  avarice  and  cupidity  were  at  once  shameless  and 
insatiable ; and  with  very  few  exceptions  they  abused 
their  power  and  their  positions,  seeking  none  save  ig- 
noble, selfish  ends.  Therefore  it  is  an  ugly  chapter  in 
the  history  of  the  relations  of  Europe  with  the  East  that 
holds  the  record  of  their  doings — doings  which  have  be- 
queathed a legacy  of  hatred  the  force  of  which  is  not  yet 
wholly  spent.  But,  through  all  and  in  spite  of  all,  it  is 
impossible  to  withhold  from  these  men  the  tribute  that  is 
due  to  a dauntless  courage  and  a tremendous  self-reli- 
ance, or  to  divest  them,  squalid  though  many  of  their 
actions  were,  of  the  cloak  of  romance  which  must  ever 
cling  about  the  memories  of  those  who  adventured 
greatly. 

Even  in  the  heyday  of  their  extraordinary  success  the 
Portuguese  in  Asia  never  had  at  their  back  the  advantage 


76 


FURTHER  INDIA 


of  numbers.  They  were  always  a tiny  band  of  aliens  bat- 
tering upon  the  face  of  the  ancient  East,  severed  by 
countless  miles  from  their  base  in  Europe,  often,  in  indi- 
vidual cases,  cut  off  entirely  from  the  support  of  their 
countrymen.  The  unshaken  conviction  in  the  innate  su- 
periority of  the  white  man  over  the  bulk  of  mankind, 
which  gives  to  our  people  to-day  so  immense  a moral 
force,  was  at  that  time  a thing  of  very  recent  growth,  a 
belief  founded  upon  a barely  proved  experience,  a theory 
that  was  still  in  the  testing.  Yet  in  the  face  of  all  disad- 
vantages, numerical,  physical,  moral,  the  Portuguese  by 
the  end  of  the  year  1515 — the  date  which  saw  the  pass- 
ing away  of  the  strenuous  soul  of  the  great  Alfonso  Dal- 
boquerque — had  made  good  their  footing  in  Asia,  not 
only  as  a new,  but  in  some  sense  as  a dominant  power. 

“ At  the  time  of  the  death  of  Alfonso  Dalboquerque,” 
writes  the  author  of  the  Commentaries , “ peace  was  uni- 
versal from  Ormuz  to  Ceylon ; and  all  the  kingdoms  of 
Cambay,  Chaul,  Dabul,  Goa,  Onor,  Baticala  to  Mount  de 
Deli,  Cananor,  Ciacoulao  and  the  Cape  of  Comorin — all 
the  kings  and  lords  and  marine  merchants — and  the  in- 
terior lands  he  left  so  quiet  and  well-ordered  that  there  was 
never  a nation  left  so  completely  conquered  and  subdued  by 
force  of  arms  as  this  was.  And  the  land  had  by  this  time 
become  so  pacified  that  the  Portuguese  used  to  carry  on 
their  merchant  business  in  every  place,  without  being 
robbed  of  anything  or  being  taken  captive  ; and  they  used 
to  navigate  the  whole  of  the  Indian  Sea  in  their  ships, 
vessels,  small  or  large  zambucos,  and  used  to  cross  the  sea 
in  safety  from  one  part  to  the  other ; and  the  natives,  on 


THE  EXPLORATIONS  77 


their  part,  used  to  visit  Goa  with  their  wares  without  mo- 
lestation being  offered  to  them.  And  from  the  Cape  of 
Comorin  eastward  Alfonso  Dalboquerque  left  the  kings 
of  those  countries  in  perfect  peace  and  friendship  with 
the  King  of  Portugal,  sending  to  them  ambassadors  bear- 
ing presents  in  his  name,  and  they  sent  similarly  to  him. 
Among  these  I may  name  the  King  of  Pegu,  the  King  of 
Siam,  the  King  of  Pase,  and  the  fortress  of  Malacca,  in 
repose.  He  remained  also  in  the  closest  terms  of  peace 
with  the  King  of  China,  and  the  King  of  Java,  the  King 
of  Maluco,  with  the  Gores,  and  all  the  other  neighbour- 
ing princes  were  kept  by  him  in  a state  of  submission  and 
tranquillity.” 

This  account,  which  is  substantially  accurate,  shows  the 
spread  of  the  Portuguese  power  during  the  first  fifteen 
years  of  the  sixteenth  century.  It  must  be  remembered, 
however,  that  trade,  rather  than  territorial  possessions, 
was  the  lure  v/hich  tempted  the  Portuguese  adventurers 
to  the  East,  and  that  Dalboquerque,  more  far-seeing  than 
the  majority  of  his  contemporaries,  did  not  desire  an  ex- 
tensive empire  so  much  as  the  command  of  the  sea  and 
the  acquisition  of  convenient  ports  which  might  be  used 
as  business-centres  and  suitable  bases  for  Portuguese  com- 
merce with  the  eastern  world.  In  Malaya,  for  example, 
he  was  content  with  the  conquest  of  Malacca,  which  dis- 
posed once  for  all  of  a formidable  rival ; and  that  accom- 
plished, he  did  his  best  to  establish  friendly  relations  with 
the  neighbouring  kings  and  countries.  Command  of  the 
sea  and  of  the  trade-routes  once  secured,  the  Portuguese 
had  no  great  hankering  after  inland  possessions,  and  ac- 


78 


FURTHER  INDIA 


cordingly  their  explorations  were  practically  confined  to 
the  islands  and  ports  and  the  coast  regions  of  the  East. 

The  Moluccas  or  Spice  Islands,  the  home  of  the  clove 
and  the  nutmeg,  had  from  the  first  been  the  principal 
goal  which  the  Portuguese  adventurers  wrere  bent  upon 
reaching,  and  Dalboquerque,  as  we  have  seen,  lost  no 
time  in  despatching  an  expedition  to  explore  this  archi- 
pelago as  soon  as  Malacca  had  fallen.  Antonio  Dabreu, 
who  was  in  command,  was  not  the  first  European,  how- 
ever, to  visit  the  group.  Prior  to  the  date  of  Dalbo- 
querque’s  victory  in  the  Malay  Peninsula,  the  Moluccas 
had  been  visited  by  the  Italian  wanderer,  Ludovico  di 
Varthema,  and  by  Barbosa,  the  former  being,  so  far  as 
our  information  goes,  the  first  white  man  to  land  upon 
their  shores.  Dabreu  returned  to  Malacca  in  1514  with 
all  his  party,  except  the  crew  of  one  vessel  who,  with 
their  captain,  Francisco  Surao,  had  lost  their  ship  at  Ter- 
nate  and  had  remained  behind  on  that  island.  Pigafetta, 
the  chronicler  of  Magellan’s  voyage,  who  wras  at  Tidor 
during  the  latter  months  of  1521,  mentions  that  this  man, 
whom  he  calls  Francisco  Serrano,  had  become  the  “ cap- 
tain-general of  the  King  of  Tarenate  when  he  was  mak- 
ing war  upon  the  King  of  Tidore,”  and  by  his  prowess 
had  so  earned  the  hatred  of  the  latter  that  means  had 
been  contrived  to  poison  him.  Pedro  Alfonso  de  Loroso, 
another  Portuguese  who  was  living  at  Ternate  at  the  time 
of  Pigafetta’s  visit,  came  to  see  the  Spaniards  and  told 
them, 

“ That  he  had  come  to  India  sixteen  years  ago,  and  of 
these  years  he  had  passed  ten  in  Moluco  ; and  it  was  just 


THE  EXPLORATIONS  79 


ten  years  since  these  islands  had  been  discovered  by  the 
Portuguese,  who  kept  the  discovery  secret  from  us.  He 
then  related  to  us  that  a year,  less  fifteen  days,  had  lapsed 
since  a large  ship  had  come  hither  proceeding  from  Ma- 
lacca, had  gone  away  laden  with  cloves.” 

From  this  it  is  evident  that  direct  trade  between  the 
Portuguese  of  Malacca  and  the  Molucca  islands  began  with 
the  expedition  sent  to  the  group  by  Dalboquerque,  and 
was  carried  on  with  more  or  less  regularity  from  that  time 
forward.  It  was  not,  however,  until  after  the  coming  of 
the  Spaniards  had  threatened  the  Portuguese  monopoly  of 
trade  with  the  Moluccas  that  any  portion  of  the  group 
was  annexed  by  Portugal.  This  was  formerly  done  after 
the  appointment  of  Lopo  Vas  de  Sampayo  to  the  post  of 
Portuguese  Governor  of  the  Indies  in  1526. 

The  enormous  importance  which  was  attached  to  the 
establishment  of  trade  with  this  little  archipelago  by  the 
nations  of  Europe  is  proved  by  the  fact  that,  while  the 
Portuguese  kept  the  discovery  of  the  Moluccas  a close 
secret,  the  great  voyage  of  Magellan  had  for  its  real  and 
principal  object,  not  the  circumnavigation  of  the  globe, 
but  the  opening  up  of  a new  sea-route  to  these  precious 
islands.  Pigafetta  tells  us  that  Francisco  Serrano  was  a 
personal  friend  of  Magellan,  and  that  he  had  been  instru- 
mental in  instigating  him  to  attempt  a voyage  to  the 
Moluccas  via  the  western  route.  It  was  because  Magel- 
lan was  himself  a Portuguese  who,  having  served  in  the 
East,  was  in  the  possession  of  what  we  should  call  “ trade 
secrets,” — among  the  most  prized  of  which  was  a knowl- 
edge of  the  exact  locality  of  the  Moluccas — that  his  tak- 


8o 


FURTHER  INDIA 


ing  service  with  the  King  of  Spain  was  regarded  by  his 
countrymen  as  an  act  hardly  to  be  distinguished  from 
treason.  On  the  arrival  of  Magellan’s  fleet  at  Tidor  the 
Spaniards  felt  that  the  real  end  of  their  journey  had  been 
attained,  although  they  were  still  far  from  having  com- 
pleted the  circuit  of  the  earth. 

“ The  pilot  who  had  remained  with  us,”  says  Pigafetta, 
“ told  us  that  there  were  the  Moluco  Islands,  for  which 
we  gave  thanks  to  God,  and  to  comfort  ourselves  we  dis- 
charged all  our  artillery.  It  need  not  cause  wonder  that 
we  were  so  much  rejoiced,  since  we  had  passed  twenty- 
seven  months,  less  two  days,  always  in  search  of  Moluco. 
. . . But  I must  say  that  near  all  these  islands  the 

least  depth  that  we  found  was  ioo  fathoms,  for  which 
reason  attention  is  not  to  be  given  to  all  that  the  Portu- 
guese have  spread,  according  to  whom  the  islands  of 
Moluco  are  situated  in  seas  which  cannot  be  navigated  on 
account  of  the  shoals,  and  the  dark  and  foggy  atmos- 
phere.” 

From  which  it  will  be  gathered  that  a meticulous  re- 
gard for  truth  did  not  fetter  the  Portuguese  in  their  efforts 
to  keep  their  rivals  off  what  they  regarded  as  their  own 
preserves ! 

The  Bull  promulgated  by  Pope  Alexander  VI  at  the 
end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  decreeing  the  discoveries  of 
the  West  to  Spain  and  those  of  the  East  to  Portugal,  was 
the  reason  which  made  it  appear  necessary  to  the  King 
of  Spain  to  discover  a new  sea-route  to  the  Moluccas. 
The  nations  of  Europe  not  only  acquiesced  in  the  Pope’s 
arrangement  to  a surprising  extent,  but  seem  to  have  re- 


THE  EXPLORATIONS  81 


garded  the  newly  discovered  sea-route  round  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  as  in  some  sort  the  exclusive  possession  of  the 
Portuguese.  They  did  not  recognise  that  the  trade  of 
Asia  was  also  Portugal’s  peculiar  property,  but  they  seem 
to  have  held  that  if  it  were  to  be  tapped  by  them  some 
new  means  of  getting  at  it  must  be  devised.  For  a pe- 
riod, therefore,  while  all  the  maritime  European  peoples 
were  fired  to  emulate  the  golden  successes  reaped  by 
Spain  and  Portugal,  the  former  tried  to  enlarge  her  field 
of  operations  by  beating  out  a road  to  the  East  round 
Cape  Horn  and  across  the  Pacific,  while  the  British  and 
the  Dutch  struggled  again  and  again  to  discover  a North- 
west Passage,  urged  thereto  by  the  common  hunger  for 
the  riches  of  the  Indies. 

“ The  doctrine  that  the  ocean  is  the  common  property 
of  the  human  race,”  writes  Mr.  Albert  Gray,  “ was  as- 
serted first  by  Elizabeth  and  her  bold  seamen,  and  after- 
wards defended  on  legal  principles  by  Grotius  in  his 
Mare  Liberum.  Owing  to  the  disputes  with  the  Dutch  as 
to  the  North  Sea  fisheries,  the  doctrines  of  Elizabeth  were 
abandoned  by  James,  whose  legal  champion,  Selden,  re- 
plied to  Grotius  by  his  treatise,  Mare  Clausum.  It  is 
hardly  necessary  to  add  that  time  has  been  on  the  side  of 
Grotius.” 

The  defeat  of  the  great  Armada  in  1588,  however,  was 
the  real  death-blow  dealt  to  the  pretensions,  so  long  ad- 
vanced by  Spain  and  Portugal,  which  claimed  that  the 
sea  was  the  exclusive  property  of  certain  nations,  and  im- 
mediately after  that  event  the  invasion  of  the  East  by  the 
white  races  began  in  earnest. 


82 


FURTHER  INDIA 


During  practically  the  whole  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
however,  in  spite  of  the  incursion  of  Magellan’s  fleet,  and 
the  ascendency  gained  by  the  Spaniards  after  the  acces- 
sion of  Philip  to  the  throne  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  the 
Portuguese  had  the  virgin  field  of  Asia  very  much  to 
themselves,  and  they  took  advantage  of  this  to  spread 
their  outposts  broad-cast  throughout  the  East,  establish- 
ing trading  settlements  even  in  China.  It  will  be  conven- 
ient, therefore,  in  this  place  to  sketch  in  rapid  outline  the 
history  of  European  intercourse  with  Burma,  with  Siam, 
and  with  Indo-China,  from  its  beginning  up  to  the  time 
which  saw  the  arrival  upon  the  scene  of  the  great  East 
India  Companies. 

A reference  to  Burma,  called  by  him  Mien,  occurs  in 
the  Book  of  Marco  Polo,  though  the  pagodas,  described 
as  having  “ on  the  top,  round  about  the  balls,  little  gold 
and  silver  bells,”  are  the  only  distinctively  Burmese  ob- 
jects mentioned.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  Polo 
himself  ever  visited  Burma,  and  the  honour  of  being  the 
first  white  man  to  land  in  Pegu  is  generally  attributed  to 
the  Venetian,  Nicolo  di  Conti,  who  returned  to  his  native 
city  in  1444,  after  spending  some  five  and  twenty  years 
wandering  through  Asia.  He  went  to  Racha,  which  is 
probably  to  be  identified  with  Arakan,  and  thence  “ after 
seventeen  days  passing  desert  hills  came  into  a cham- 
paign country.”  He  must,  therefore,  have  crossed  the 
Arakan  Yoma  range,  possibly  by  the  Aeng  pass,  and  so 
have  reached  the  banks  of  the  Irawadi.  He  speaks  of 
Ava  by  name,  and  says,  mistakenly,  that  its  river  is 
greater  than  the  Ganges.  The  country  he  calls  Machin 


THE  EXPLORATIONS  83 


— obviously  a corruption  of  Maha  Chin,  Great  China,  a 
term  applied  by  the  natives  of  Hindustan  at  that  time 
more  or  less  indiscriminately  to  all  countries  lying  to  the 
eastward  of  the  Gangetic  valley.  He  also  mentions  the 
practice  of  tattooing,  though  he  ascribes  its  use  to  women 
as  well  as  men,  which  is  no  longer  the  case  except  among 
a few  hill-tribes,  and  he  is  the  first  traveller  to  speak  of 
the  famous  white  elephant,  the  dust-coloured  beast  with 
pink  eyes  and  unsightly  skewbald  patches  which  is  in  re- 
ality such  a disappointing  object  when  seen  in  the  flesh. 
In  1496  Hieronymo  da  Santa  Stephano,  a native  of 
Genoa,  landed  in  Pegu,  which  he  is  the  first  European  to 
call  by  that  name,  but  he  was  prevented  from  visiting 
Ava  by  one  of  the  many  wars  between  the  two  great 
Burmese  kingdoms  which  was  at  that  time  raging. 
Ludovico  di  Varthema,  whom  we  have  already  named  in 
connection  with  the  Moluccas,  visited  Pegu  about  the 
same  time,  and  speaks  of  bamboos — “ great  canes  as  large 
as  a barrel” — and  of  rubies.  He  too  mentions  that  war 
was  in  progress  between  Pegu  and  Ava  at  the  time  of  his 
visit. 

After  the  fall  of  Malacca,  Ruy  Nunez  d’Acunha  was 
sent  to  Pegu  on  a friendly  embassy  by  Dalboquerque, 
and  in  1545  the  redoubtable  Mendez  Pinto,  of  whose 
voyage  along  the  coasts  of  Indo-China  we  shall  have 
more  to  say  presently,  was  there  as  a military  adventurer. 
He  repeats  the  myth  which  had  long  been  current  of  a 
great  inland  lake  whence  flowed  all  the  rivers  of  the  Indo- 
Chinese  peninsula — a tradition  which  may  possibly  have 
had  its  origin  in  the  Lake  of  Tonle  Sap — and  he  adds, 


84 


FURTHER  INDIA 


characteristically  enough,  that  he  had  himself  seen  it! 
At  this  period  there  would  appear  to  have  been  a con- 
siderable number  of  Portuguese  traders  and  adventurers 
settled  in  Lower  Burma,  men  who  did  their  best  to  keep 
the  trade  of  the  country  in  their  own  hands,  sought 
service  under  the  native  kings  as  mercenary  soldiers,  and 
unlike  the  first  of  the  Portuguese  invaders  discouraged 
the  missionary  endeavours  of  their  priests  as  calculated 
to  attract  white  men  to  the  place  and  so  to  interfere  with 
the  monopolies  they  enjoyed.  In  spite  of  this,  however, 
the  Dominican  Gaspar  de  Cruz  visited  Burma,  which  he 
calls  “ Bramer,”  some  time  between  1550  and  1560,  and 
another  Dominican,  Bomferrus  came  to  India  from  Pegu 
in  1557  after  an  abortive  attempt  to  convert  some  of  the 
inhabitants  to  Christianity.  In  1569  a Venetian  named 
Csesar  Frederick  was  in  Pegu  and  gave  a detailed  and 
interesting  account  of  the  country,  and  fourteen  years 
later  he  was  followed  by  another  Venetian,  Gasparo 
Balbi,  a jeweller,  who  went  to  Pegu  with  a stock  of 
emeralds.  Entering  the  river  this  man  anchored  at 
Bassein,  then  called  Cosmi  or  Cosmin,  whence  he  made 
his  way  to  Dagon,  the  modern  Rangoon,  via  Dalla. 
Robert  Fitch,  the  merchant  of  London,  to  whom  be- 
longs the  distinction  of  being  the  first  Englishman  to 
visit  Burma,  followed  the  same  route  as  Balbi  when  he 
came  to  Pegu  in  1586. 

The  accounts  which  all  these  travellers,  and  more 
especially  Frederick  and  Fitch,  give  of  the  kingdom  of 
Pegu,  even  when  every  deduction  has  been  made  for 
glamour  and  its  consequent  exaggeration,  prove  that  this 


THE  EXPLORATIONS  85 


empire,  established  on  the  delta  of  the  Irawadi,  was  in 
the  sixteenth  century  possessed  of  a might,  a wealth,  a 
splendour  and  an  importance  which  have  never  since 
been  approached  in  these  regions.  Even  at  that  time, 
however,  constant  wars  were  in  progress  between  Pegu 
and  Siam,  Tungu,  Ava,  and  Arakan,  in  many  of  which 
Portuguese  adventurers  took  an  active  part.  During  the 
campaign  against  Siam  in  1548,  a hundred  and  eighty 
Portuguese  under  James  Suarez  de  Melo  fought  on  the 
side  of  Pegu,  while  James  Pereyra  led  a party  of  his 
countrymen  under  the  flag  of  Siam.  During  the  con- 
cluding years  of  the  sixteenth  century,  however,  the 
Kings  of  Arakan  and  Tungu  overran  Pegu  and  destroyed 
its  power  forever,  and  in  1600,  Boves,  a Jesuit  priest, 
thus  describes  the  destruction  that  had  been  wrought  in 
the  once  prosperous  kingdom. 

“ It  is  a lamentable  spectacle  to  see  the  banks  of  the 
rivers,  set  with  infinite  fruit-bearing  trees,  now  over- 
whelmed with  ruins  of  gilded  temples  and  noble  edifices ; 
the  ways  and  fields  full  of  skulls  and  bones  of  wretched 
Peguans,  killed  or  famished  and  cast  into  the  river  in 
such  numbers  that  the  multitude  of  carcases  prohibiteth 
the  way  and  passage  of  any  ships ; to  omit  the  burnings 
and  massacres  committed  by  this,  the  cruellest  tyrant  that 
ever  breathed.” 

The  King  of  Arakan  is  the  tyrant  here  referred  to, 
and  once  again  Portuguese  mercenaries  took  their  share 
of  the  fighting.  Their  leader,  Philip  de  Brito,  received 
from  the  King  of  Arakan  the  port  of  Sirian  as  a reward 
for  his  services  immediately  after  the  fall  of  Pegu,  and 


86 


FURTHER  INDIA 


for  some  years  he  held  the  position  of  a kind  of  rival 
prince,  keeping  the  son  of  his  benefactor  as  a hostage 
for  whose  release  he  demanded  a ransom  of  50,000 
crowns ! “ He  also  domineereth  and  careth  for  nobodie,” 
says  a contemporary  chronicler,  and  so  secure  to  all  see- 
ing was  the  eminence  to  which  he  had  attained  that  his 
son  married  a daughter  of  the  King  of  Martaban  who  had 
established  a separate  principality  upon  the  ruins  of  Pegu. 
In  1613,  however,  de  Brito  was  besieged  in  Sirian  by  the 
King  of  Ava,  and  after  a manful  resistance  was  betrayed 
into  the  hands  of  his  enemy.  The  unhappy  wretch  was 
impaled  by  the  King  of  Ava,  and  actually  lived  two 
whole  days  enduring  the  most  hideous  torments. 

From  this  time  dates  the  beginning  of  the  domination 
of  Ava  over  the  whole  of  Burma.  Tavoi  was  conquered, 
Tenasserim  besieged,  although  a Portuguese  outlaw  of 
Cochin,  Christopher  Rebello,  with  forty  of  his  compa- 
triots and  a handful  of  slaves,  utterly  routed  the  fleet  of 
Ava  which  numbered  some  five  hundred  sail.  Shortly 
afterwards  an  alliance  against  Arakan  was  sought  by  the 
Court  of  Ava  with  the  Portuguese,  and  an  envoy  was 
sent  from  Goa  to  conduct  the  negotiations.  He  was 
treated  with  the  studied  insults  which  always  character- 
ised the  dealings  of  the  arrogant  Burmese  Court  with 
foreign  embassies,  and  nothing  came  of  the  mission. 
None  the  less,  step  by  step,  all  the  country  between 
Assam  on  the  north  and  Siam  on  the  south,  between  the 
Bay  of  Bengal  and  the  frontiers  of  China  was  absorbed 
by  Ava,  and  though  this  rule  was  often  inefficient,  the 
hilly  region  inhabited  by  the  sturdy  tribesmen  called  the 


THE  EXPLORATIONS  87 


Red  Karins  was  the  only  part  of  Burma  which  escaped 
its  domination.  The  Portuguese,  it  will  be  noted,  had 
never  during  all  this  time  acquired  any  territory  in 
Burma,  adventurers  like  the  miserable  de  Brito  having 
fought,  not  for  their  king  and  country,  but  for  their  own 
hands.  The  opening  of  factories  in  Burmese  territory 
was  the  work  of  the  British  and  Dutch  East  India  Com- 
panies, and  with  that  we  shall  have  to  deal  in  a later 
chapter. 

The  establishment  of  the  Portuguese  in  Malaya  has 
already  been  recorded,  and  we  can  now  glance  rapidly  at 
the  history  of  their  relations  with  Siam.  The  embassy 
sent  to  that  country  by  Dalboquerque  after  the  fall  of 
Malacca  has  already  been  mentioned,  and  in  1516  Manoel 
Falcao  established  a factory  in  Petani,  a Malayan  king- 
dom on  the  eastern  coast  of  the  Peninsula  which  was 
subject  to  Siamese  influence,  as  indeed  at  that  time  were 
most  of  the  Malay  States.  This  trading-station  quickly 
assumed  considerable  proportions,  and  when  it  was  visited 
by  Fernandez  Pinto  about  1 540  there  were,  he  states, 
some  three  hundred  Portuguese  living  in  the  place,  and 
Antonio  de  Faria  was  able  to  recruit  a sufficiently  numer- 
ous band  of  adventurers  from  among  them  when  he  set 
out,  as  will  presently  be  related,  to  harry  the  coasts  of 
Indo-China.  In  Siam  itself  the  Portuguese,  though  they 
neither  sought  nor  obtained  any  territorial  possessions, 
settled  in  considerable  numbers,  and  fought  as  mercena- 
ries against  the  Peguan  invaders  in  1548.  Pinto  also 
speaks  of  Siam  as  a place  in  which  Portuguese  traders 
were  in  the  habit  of  seeking  refuge  and  passing  the 


88 


FURTHER  INDIA 


“ winter,”  viz.,  the  period  during  which  the  prevalence  of 
the  northeast  monsoon  rendered  the  China  Sea  difficult 
and  dangerous  to  navigation.  This  commercial  and  un- 
official intercourse  seems  to  have  continued  unchecked 
until  1633,  and  in  1620  the  King  of  Siam  actually  sent 
to  Goa  and  invited  the  Portuguese  Government  to  take 
possession  of  a port  upon  his  coast.  At  that  time,  how- 
ever, the  position  of  Portugal  in  the  East  was  becoming 
critical,  and  she  was  too  busy  defending  what  she  had  al- 
ready won  to  be  able  to  devote  her  energies  to  the  acqui- 
sition of  new  responsibilities.  Nothing,  therefore,  re- 
sulted from  this  mission,  and  ten  years  later  the  Siamese 
quarrelled  with  the  Portuguese  colony,  though  the  differ- 
ence was  patched  up  in  1633,  and  in  1636  the  King  of 
Siam  sent  an  embassy  to  the  Governor  of  the  Philippines. 
Intercourse  between  Siam  and  the  Dutch  East  India 
Company,  however,  had  begun  as  early  as  1604,  and  from 
that  time  the  influence  of  the  Portuguese  in  Siam  began 
to  wane,  just  as  it  waned  in  India  and  in  Malaya  when 
other  white  nations  appeared  upon  the  scene  whose  past 
held  no  such  record  of  wrong  as  that  which  embittered 
the  relations  between  the  peoples  of  the  East  and  the 
earliest  of  the  western  invaders. 

The  first  exploration  of  the  coasts  to  Indo-China  by 
the  Portuguese  would  appear  to  have  been  undertaken, 
in  somewhat  peculiar  circumstances  in  1 540-41.  Its 
story  is  related  by  Ferdinand  Mendez  Pinto,  and  from 
him  we  learn,  what  is  to  be  derived  also  from  numerous 
other  sources,  that  the  seas  of  southeastern  Asia  were  by 
this  time  teeming  with  Portuguese  merchants  and  adven- 


THE  EXPLORATIONS  89 


turers.  In  India  and  at  Malacca  Portugal  was  established 
in  force ; in  Pegu  and  Tenasserim,  in  Petani  and  Siam 
she  had  important  trading  colonies  ; and  in  writing  of  the 
port  of  Liampoo  in  China  Pinto  says  of  his  countrymen  : 
“ They  had  there  built  above  a thousand  houses,  that 
were  governed  by  Sheriffs,  Auditors,  Consuls,  Judges,  and 
six  or  seven  other  kind  of  Officers,  where  the  Notaries 
underneath  the  publick  Acts,  which  they  made,  wrote 
thus,  /,  such  publick  Notary  of  this  Town  of  Liampoo  for 
the  King  our  Sovereign  Lord.  And  this  they  do  with  as 
much  confidence  and  assurance,  as  if  the  place  had  been 
situated  between  Santarem  and  Lisbon,  so  that  there  were 
houses  there  which  cost  three  of  four  thousand  Ducates 
the  building,  but  both  they  and  all  the  rest  were  after- 
wards demolished  for  our  sins  by  the  Chineses.” 

The  practice  of  sailing  direct  to  China  from  the  Straits 
of  Malacca,  only  touching  where  necessary  to  take  in 
water,  which,  as  we  have  seen  in  earlier  chapters,  was 
that  usually  adopted  by  mariners  bound  for  the  Far  East, 
caused  a settlement  so  important  as  the  one  here  described 
to  have  been  established  in  the  southern  provinces  of  the 
Celestial  Empire  within  thirty  years  of  the  fall  of  Malacca, 
while  even  the  coasts  of  Indo-China  continued  to  be  prac- 
tically unknown.  It  fell  to  the  lot  of  Mendez  Pinto  to 
give  us  an  account  of  the  fir.st  detailed  exploration  of 
these  coast-lines,  and  though  much  of  the  matter  con- 
tained in  his  narrative,  such  as  the  long-winded  orations 
attributed  to  various  Orientals,  obviously  owe  more  than 
a little  to  this  author’s  imagination,  the  general  outline 
of  the  events  which  he  records  bears  every  mark  of  sub- 


90 


FURTHER  INDIA 


stantial  accuracy.  His  itinerary,  with  its  number  of  ex- 
traordinary proper  names,  is  quite  impossible  to  follow  in 
detail,  but  his  story  owes  its  value  to  the  fact  that  it  is  the 
earliest  extant  account  of  the  exploration  of  the  shores 
of  Indo-China  by  men  of  European  race,  and  because  it 
is  illustrative  to  a remarkable  degree  of  the  spirit  which 
animated  the  Portuguese  at  this  period,  of  their  methods, 
and  of  the  attitude  by  them  assumed  towards  the  East 
and  its  peoples.  After  reading  Pinto’s  artless  book  one 
is  at  no  loss  to  understand  why  the  Portuguese  speedily 
became  an  object  of  such  intense  detestation  to  the  na- 
tives of  Asia. 

In  the  spring  of  1540,  Pinto  tells  us,  he  was  sent  to 
Pahang  (Pan)  on  the  east  coast  of  the  Malay  Peninsula  to 
fetch  a cargo  which  had  been  purchased  by  a native  agent 
on  behalf  of  Pedro  de  Faria,  the  Governor  of  the  citadel 
of  Malacca.  During  a disturbance  which  occurred  while 
he  was  still  in  Pahang,  Pinto  was  robbed  of  all  the  prop- 
erty in  his  charge,  and  he  escaped  with  just  his  life  and 
his  ship,  and  sailed  forthwith  for  Petani.  Here  he  learned 
that  three  junks  belonging  to  some  Pahang  merchants 
were  lying  at  anchor  inside  the  mouth  of  the  Kelantan 
River,  and  though  it  was  not  suggested  that  they  were 
the  property  of  the  ruffians  who  had  robbed  him,  the  fact 
that  they  hailed  from  Pahang  was,  in  these  lawless  days, 
sufficient  grounds  for  making  them  the  objects  of  repris- 
als. Accordingly,  the  permission  of  the  Raja  of  Petani 
having  been  obtained,  the  Portuguese  fitted  out  a small 
fleet,  raided  the  Kelantan  River,  captured  the  Pahang 
junks  after  a hard  fight,  and  carried  their  prizes  back  to 


THE  EXPLORATIONS  91 


Petani  with  all  haste,  “ because,”  as  Pinto  naively  re- 
marks, “ the  whole  Country  thereabouts  was  in  an  up- 
roar.” This,  it  may  be  noted  in  passing,  was  a condition 
into  which  the  visits  of  the  Portuguese  adventurers  were 
apt  to  throw  the  native  States  which  these  gentry  hon- 
oured with  their  attentions. 

At  Petani  there  presently  arrived  Antonio  de  Faria, 
who  was  probably  a relative  of  Pedro  de  Faria,  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Malacca.  He  had  been  sent  to  ratify  a treaty 
of  friendship  already  existing  between  the  Portuguese 
and  the  Raja,  but  he  had  brought  with  him  a large  con- 
signment of  private  merchandise,  and  since  he  could  not 
sell  it  at  a satisfactory  profit  in  Petani,  he  sent  Pinto  with 
it  to  Ligor,  a little  State  further  to  the  north  on  the  east- 
ern shores  of  the  Malay  Peninsula.  Here  Pinto,  while 
lying  outside  the  bar,  was  set  upon  by  native  pirates, 
robbed  of  his  ship  and  her  cargo,  and  only  saved  himself 
by  swimming  ashore  with  such  of  his  European  compan- 
ions as  had  survived  the  fight.  After  terrible  hardships 
he  made  his  way  back  to  Petani,  and  reported  what  had 
befallen  him  to  Antonio  de  Faria,  adding  the  information, 
which  avowedly  rested  upon  the  merest  guess-work,  that 
the  pirate  who  had  used  him  so  evilly  was  one  Coio 
Acem, — probably  Dato’  Kaya  Akhim,  or  some  similar 
name  and  title.  Upon  hearing  this  Antonio  de  Faria  at 
once  determined  to  put  to  sea  in  search  of  this  marauder, 
whose  act  of  piracy  (if  indeed  he  had  committed  the 
deed)  had  ruined  the  ambassador,  since  the  captured  cargo 
had  been  bought  with  money  borrowed  in  Malacca,  and 
de  Faria  had  now'  no  means  of  discharging  his  liabilities. 


92 


FURTHER  INDIA 


To  us  the  spectacle  presented  by  one  who  had  been  en- 
trusted by  Government  with  a special  embassy  transform- 
ing himself  with  such  suddenness  into  a sea-rover,  appears 
incongruous  enough,  but  such  was  evidently  not  the  view 
taken  by  the  Portuguese  traders  in  Petani.  For,  says 
Pinto, 

“ All  the  Assistants  very  much  commended  his  valor- 
ous resolution,  and  for  the  execution  thereof  there  were 
many  young  Soldiers  among  them  that  offered  to  accom- 
pany him  in  that  voyage ; some  likewise  presented  him 
with  Mony,  and  others  furnished  him  with  divers  neces- 
saries.” 

Accordingly,  on  Saturday,  May  9th,  in  the  year  of 
Grace  1540,  Antonio  de  Faria  sailed  from  Petani, 
“and  steered  North  Northwest,  towards  the  Kingdom 
of  Champaa,  with  an  intent  to  discover  the  Ports  and 
Havens  thereof,  and  also  by  means  of  some  good  booty 
to  furnish  himself  with  such  things  as  he  wanted,”  a 
proper  spirit,  truly,  for  one  who  regarded  it  as  his  special 
mission  to  punish  piracy ! He  first  touched  at  Pulau 
Kondor,  as  Marco  Polo  and  many  another  traveller  had 
done  before  him,  crossed  thence  to  the  shores  of  Champa 
and  skirted  the  coast  in  a northerly  direction  until  a river 
was  reached  which  formed  the  boundary  between  that 
kingdom  and  Kambodia.  This  river  Pinto  calls  “ Pulo 
Cambim,”  though  pulau  signifies  an  island,  and  he  tells 
us  on  the  authority  of  the  natives  that  it  had  its  source 
in  a lake  named  Pinator  in  the  neighbourhood  of  which 
there  were  gold  mines,  while  there  was  a “ diamond 
quarry  ” on  its  shores  at  a place  called  Buarquirim.  It  is 


THE  EXPLORATIONS  93 


impossible  to  make  anything  of  these  names,  but  the 
river  was  probably  one  of  the  principal  mouths  of  the 
Mekong,  a branch  of  which  river  connects  with  the  great 
lake  of  Tonle  Sap,  but  in  any  case  the  mineral  wealth  of 
the  interior  was  greatly  exaggerated.  Seventeen  leagues 
north  of  Pulo  Cambim  Pinto  places  a port  called  Saleyza- 
can,  which  also  defies  identification,  beyond  which  was 
the  river  of  “ Toobasoy.”  At  this  place  de  Faria  was 
attacked  by  pirates,  whom  he  repulsed  and  captured,  his 
“bag”  including  “a  Capher  slave,  one  Turk,  two 
Achens,  and  the  captain  of  the  junk,  named  Similau,  a 
notorious  Pyrat,  and  our  mortal  Enemy.”  The  variety 
of  nationalities  represented  is  curious,  and  it  serves  to  il- 
lustrate how  much  more  general  was  the  intercourse  sub- 
sisting between  the  natives  of  different  parts  of  Asia  in 
the  sixteenth  century  than  it  has  since  become.  It  is 
horrible  to  add  that  these  prisoners  were  tortured  to  death 
with  quite  diabolical  cruelty  by  Antonio  de  Faria,  and  it 
is  typical  of  the  times  that  this  barbarous  act  was  per- 
formed just  before  the  feast  of  Corpus  Christi,  which  re- 
ligious festival  was  observed  with  due  form  by  the  Chris- 
tian souls  on  board  de  Faria’s  piratical  fleet ! 

Sailing  on  Wednesday  from  Toobasoy,  which  was 
probably  one  of  the  mouths  of  the  Mekong,  and  continu- 
ing to  coast  in  a northerly  direction,  de  Faria  arrived  on 
the  following  Friday  at  the  mouth  of  yet  another  river 
which,  Pinto  states,  was  called  Tinacoreu  by  the  natives, 
but  Varella  by  the  Portuguese.  The  fact  that  the  white 
men  had  given  a name  of  their  own  to  the  place  would 
lead  us  to  infer  that  it  had  been  visited  by  the  Portuguese 


94 


FURTHER  INDIA 


prior  to  the  arrival  of  de  Faria,  but  Pinto  expressly  adds 
that  he  and  his  fellows  were  the  first  Europeans  whom 
the  natives  had  ever  seen.  Near  the  mouth  of  the  river 
there  was  a village  called  Taquilleu,  and  at  some  distance 
in  the  interior,  the  Portuguese  learned,  there  was  a town 
called  Pilaucacem,  where  the  king  of  the  country  had  his 
residence.  I conceive  that  the  wanderers  were  still 
among  the  mouths  of  the  Mekong,  and  it  seems  probable 
that  Pilaucacem  was  Pnom  Penh,  as  it  is  described  as  be- 
ing the  centre  of  an  extensive  trade  with  the  “ Lauhos, 
Pasuaas,  and  Gueos — very  rich  people,”  namely  the  na- 
tives of  Laos  and  the  wild  tribes,  so  called,  of  the  interior. 
The  river  of  Tinacoreu,  Pinto  further  tells  us,  “ extends  to 
Moncalor,  a mountain  distant  from  thence  some  four 
score  leagues,”  and  that  further  up  it  was  far  broader,  but 
not  so  deep.  The  Portuguese  also  learned  of  the  exist- 
ence “ in  the  midst  of  the  continent  ” of  a great  lake 
called  “ Cunebetea  ” by  its  nearest  neighbours,  and 
Chiammay  by  others  in  which  the  river  took  its  source. 
This  belief  in  a great  central  lake  in  which  all  the  large 
rivers  of  the  Indo-Chinese  peninsula  took  their  rise  was 
very  persistent,  and  in  writing  of  Burma,  it  will  be  re- 
called, Pinto  declares  that  he  had  himself  seen  it — which 
is  manifestly  untrue.  The  great  lake  of  Kambodia  may 
have  been  the  origin  of  this  tradition,  a lake  at  the  head 
of  the  main  branch  of  the  Mekong  being  inferred  by 
analogy  with  the  more  accessible  branch  which  joins  the 
parent  stream  near  Pnom  Penh,  but  it  is  obvious  that  the 
coast  natives  did  not  know  that  the  river  ran  through  a 
portion  of  China,  and  that  it  was  never  regarded  by  them 


THE  EXPLORATIONS  95 


as  a possible  highway  for  communication  with  the  Celes- 
tial Empire. 

Antonio  de  Faria  next  visited  an  island  situated  “ in 
the  entrance  to  the  Bay  of  Cauchenchina  forty  degrees 
and  a third  to  the  northward,”  which  was  probably  the 
island  of  Cham  Collao.  Thence  he  crossed  over  to 
Hainan  (Ainan),  and  later  returned  to  the  mainland,  arriv- 
ing at  the  kingdom  of  Tanququir,  which  was,  of  course, 
Tongking.  Coasting  thence  forty  leagues  towards  the 
east,  he  reached  a port  called  Mutipinan  (Turon  ?), 
whence,  Pinto  tells  us,  a great  overland  trade  was  carried 
on  with  the  Laos  and  other  peoples  of  the  Hinterland. 
If  this  statement  is  correct  the  routes  over  the  mountains 
from  the  valley  of  the  Mekong  into  that  of  the  Song 
Koi,  which  the  French  explorer  de  Lagree  ascertained 
had  formerly  been  in  frequent  use,  but  in  his  day  had 
been  completely  abandoned,  must  have  been  in  existence 
at  a very  early  period.  From  Mutipinan  de  Faria  re- 
turned to  Hainan,  and  later  spent  some  months  cruising 
• about  the  coasts  of  Indo-China  in  a southerly  direction 
with  the  intention  of  “ wintering  ” in  Siam,  but  some- 
where to  the  south  of  Quangiparu,  “ a fair  town  of  1,500 
fires,  as  we  guessed,”  in  which  there  were  “ goodly  build- 
ings and  Temples,”  he  met  with  utter  shipwreck.  The 
situation  of  this  town  cannot  be  determined,  but  it  would 
appear  to  have  been  on  the  banks  of  a river  which  fell 
into  the  sea  on  the  exposed  coast  of  Annam,  and  it  may 
perhaps  be  identical  with  the  modern  Quang-mai.  The 
spot  where  de  Faria  and  his  fellows  were  cast  ashore  was 
barren  and  uninhabited,  and  for  some  days  the  survivors 


96 


FURTHER  INDIA 


of  the  wreck — fifty-three  souls,  of  whom  twenty-three 
were  Portuguese,  out  of  a company  some  five  hundred 
and  thirty  strong — wandered  about  in  a condition  of  great 
distress.  A Chinese  vessel,  however,  soon  put  in  there 
to  water,  and  while  her  crew  were  ashore,  de  Faria  suc- 
ceeded in  surprising  her,  and  sailed  away  in  triumph 
leaving  the  dispossessed  owners  marooned  upon  an  in- 
hospitable coast. 

They  next  captured  some  unfortunate  fisherfolk  on  a 
little  island  called  Quintoo,  to  serve  as  pilots,  and  from 
them  they  learned  that  eighteen  leagues  distant  there  was  a 
“ good  river  and  good  Rode  ” called  Xingrau.  For  this 
haven  de  Faria  sailed,  and  thence,  after  touching  at  sev- 
eral islands  and  ports,  and  committing  various  acts  of  pi- 
racy, they  made  their  way  northward  eventually  reaching 
the  Chinese  port  of  Chinchu.  How  thereafter  de  Faria 
fell  in  with  the  pirate  of  whom  he  had  so  long  been  in 
search ; how  he  defeated  and  killed  him ; of  the  rich  spoil 
which  he  took,  and  of  the  splendid  reception  accorded  to 
him  by  his  enthusiastic  countrymen  at  the  port  of  Liam- 
poo,  I cannot  here  tell  in  detail.  De  Faria,  the  sea-rover, 
it  should  however  be  remarked,  was  conducted  in  state  to 
the  church  where  public  thanks  were  offered  to  the  Al- 
mighty for  the  victorious  crusade  against  the  infidel,  in 
the  course  of  which  this  Christian  hero  had  broken  not  a 
few  of  the  Ten  Commandments,  had  murdered  and  robbed 
and  tortured  and  pillaged  without  scruple,  and  had  made 
victims  of  the  inoffensive  natives  of  countries  who  never 
before  had  so  much  as  seen  a white  man.  It  was  a curi- 
ous age  in  which  men  could  see  virtue  in  the  perpetrator 


THE  EXPLORATIONS  97 


of  such  enormities  : it  is  less  curious  that  before  the  end 
of  the  sixteenth  century  the  name  of  the  white  man  had 
been  made  to  stink  in  the  nostrils  of  Asiatics. 

The  verdict  passed  by  Pinto  upon  Indo-China  is  worth 
repeating.  After  describing  its  wealth  from  information 
derived  from  native  sources,  he  says, 

“ Whereby  it  may  be  gathered  that  if  the  Country  could 
be  taken,  it  would  without  so  much  labour  or  loss  of 
blood,  be  of  greater  profit  and  less  charge  than  the  Indies,” 
an  opinion  which  its  present  possessors,  the  countrymen 
of  Dupleix  would,  I conceive,  be  little  likely  to  echo, 
however  much  they  might  desire  to  be  able  to  give  it  their 
endorsement. 

After  Pinto’s  day  the  Portuguese  appear  to  have  set- 
tled in  Kambodia,  much  as  they  settled  in  Burma,  at  their 
own  risk  and  without  receiving  much  active  support  from 
their  Government.  The  Dominican  Gaspar  de  Cruz 
visited  the  country  in  1590,  as  also  did  Christoval  de 
Jaques  between  1592  and  1598.  According  to  the  latter 
the  Lake  of  Tonle  Sap  and  the  Khmer  ruins  at  Angkor 
had  been  discovered  by  the  Portuguese  in  1570,  and  this 
would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  intercourse  between  the 
rulers  of  Kambodia,  whose  capital  was  at  or  near  Pnom 
Penh,  and  the  Portuguese  traders  had  increased  consider- 
ably during  the  half  century  immediately  following  the 
famous  voyage  of  Antonio  de  Faria.  In  about  the  year 
1580  a Frenchman  named  Louvet  visited  the  delta  of  the 
Mekong,  and  was  thus  the  first  of  his  race  to  set  foot  in 
the  region  which  was  destined  to  become  at  a later  date 
the  great  Asiatic  colony  of  France.  Five  years  later  an- 


98 


FURTHER  INDIA 


other  Frenchman,  Pere  George  La  Mothe  of  the  Order 
of  St.  Dominic,  went  to  Cochin-China  in  the  company 
of  a Portuguese  missionary  named  Fonseca.  The  two 
priests  were  attacked  by  the  natives,  Fonseca  was  mur- 
dered, and  La  Mothe,  sorely  wounded,  made  his  escape 
on  board  a Spanish  ship,  but  died  of  the  injuries  he  had 
received  before  he  could  reach  Malacca.  Jan  Huygen 
van  Linschoten,  whose  book  published  in  1596  wrought, 
as  we  shall  presently  see,  so  much  injury  to  the  prestige 
of  Portugal,  had  collected  much  information  concerning 
all  the  lands  with  which  the  Portuguese  held  commerce, 
and  he  is  one  of  the  first  to  speak  of  the  great  river  of 
Kambodia  by  name. 

“ Through  this  kingdom  (Champa),”  he  writes,  “ run- 
neth the  river  Mecom  into  the  sea,  which  the  Indians 
name  Captain  of  all  the  Rivers,  for  it  hath  so  much  water 
in  the  Summer  that  it  covereth  and  watereth  all  the  coun- 
try as  the  river  Nilus  does  vEgypt.”  . . . “Upwards 

in  the  land  behind  Cambaia  (Kambodia),”  he  adds,  “ are 
many  nations,  as  Laos,  which  are  a great  and  mightie 
people,  others  named  Auas  (Avas,  i.  e.,  Burmese  of  Upper 
Burma)  and  Bramas  (Lower  Burmese)  which  dwel  in  the 
hilles  ; others  dwel  upon  the  hils  called  Gueos,  which  live 
like  wild  men,  and  eat  men’s  flesh  and  marke  their  bodies 
with  hot  irons  which  they  esteeme  a freedome.” 

The  knowledge  in  his  possession,  it  will  be  seen,  was 
not  precisely  accurate,  the  Burmese  being  by  no  means 
hill  tribes,  anthropophagy  being  a practice  unknown  in 
Indo-China,  and  tattooing,  which  is  only  in  use  among 
the  Burmese  and  the  Shans  and  hill  tribes  of  the  north, 


THE  EXPLORATIONS  99 


being  effected  by  pigment  rather  than  by  “ hot  irons,” 
which  would  seem  to  imply  a process  of  branding.  Lin- 
schoten,  however  had  had  opportunities  of  ascertaining 
from  the  best  Portuguese  authorities  all  the  facts  within 
their  knowledge,  and  his  book  probably  represented  the 
best  information  concerning  the  peoples  of  the  Hinter- 
land of  Indo-China  that  was  then  at  the  disposal  of  Eu- 
ropeans in  the  East. 

Late  in  the  sixteenth,  or  early  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, the  Portuguese  established  regular  trading-posts  in 
Cochin-China  and  Kambodia,  the  most  advanced  of  these 
being  at  Pnom  Penh.  Beyond  this  and  the  district  of  Siam- 
reap  at  the  north  of  the  Lake  of  Tonle  Sap,  they  do  not 
appear  to  have  penetrated,  and  the  first  organised  attempt 
to  explore  the  interior  of  Indo-China  by  the  Mekong 
route  was  made,  not  by  them,  but  by  the  Dutch  East  In- 
dia Company.  With  this  we  shall  have  to  deal  in  a later 
chapter,  but  the  explorations  of  the  Portuguese  in  south- 
eastern Asia,  which  began  with  the  fall  of  Malacca  in 
15 1 1,  may  be  said  to  have  ended  early  in  the  following 
century.  When  the  other  nations  of  Europe  began  to 
flock  eastward  the  Portuguese  found  the  task  of  defend- 
ing their  own  position  sufficiently  arduous,  and  thereafter 
they  ceased  to  push  their  discoveries  into  new  lands. 
During  the  hour  of  their  prosperity  they  scattered  them- 
selves broadcast  with  a quite  extraordinary  rapidity,  but 
they  were  content  for  the  most  part  with  the  exploitation 
of  the  coasts  and  easily  accessible  places  at  no  great  dis- 
tance from  the  sea,  and  the  heavier  work  of  discovery  fell 
to  the  lot  of  other  white  nations.  Yet  the  traces  of  the 


100 


FURTHER  INDIA 


Portuguese  traders  have  not  even  now  completely  van- 
ished, and  in  almost  every  town  of  any  size  in  southeast- 
ern Asia  men  are  to  be  found  bearing  historic  names  of 
Portugal,  speaking  a bastard  dialect  of  the  Peninsula,  and 
albeit  they  are  generally  more  swarthy  than  the  natives 
of  the  land,  cherishing  in  the  ignominy  of  the  present  a 
passionate  disdain  for  the  full-blooded  Oriental.  This 
latter  sentiment  is  almost  the  last  relic  of  the  pride  of  the 
once  powerful  race  who  for  a space  ruled  the  seas  and 
coast  of  Asia,  and  passing  bequeathed  to  the  East  this 
sorry  legacy  of  half-breeds. 


CHAPTER  V 


THE  EAST  INDIA  COMPANIES,  AND  AFTER 

HERE  is  a certain  characteristic  irony  in  the 
fact  that  the  nation  whose  king  enjoyed  the 


title  of  “ The  Eldest  Son  of  the  Church  ” should 
have  been  the  first  of  all  the  peoples  of  Europe  to  set  at 
defiance  the  Bull  of  Alexander  VI.  In  1528  the  brothers 
Jean  and  Raoul  Parmentier  of  Dieppe  sailed  from  France, 
rounded  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  penetrated  as  far 
south  and  east  as  Sumatra,  where  Jean,  the  leader  and  the 
inspiring  genius  of  the  adventure,  died  in  the  following 
year.  His  friend,  the  poet  Pierre  Crignon,  who  sailed 
with  him,  says  of  his  dead  captain  : 

“ C'est  le  premier  Francois  qui  a decouvert  les  Indies 
jusques  a l’ isle  de  Taprobane,  et  si  mort  ne  I'eust  pas 
prevenu  je  crois  qu'il  eust  ete  jusques  au  Moluques." 

This,  however,  was  not  to  be,  and  though  the  French 
broke  through  the  ring-fence  of  Portugal  before  any  other 
nation  of  Europe  had  ventured  to  do  so,  their  efforts  were 
isolated  and  of  no  importance.  The  first  organised  chal- 
lenge to  the  monopoly  enjoyed  by  the  Portuguese  in 
Asia  emanated  from  the  city  of  London,  England  once 
again  playing  the  part  which  has  earned  for  her  so  much 
hatred  among  the  nations  of  the  Continent — that  of  chief 
thwarter  of  individual  ambitions. 

During  the  concluding  twenty  years  of  the  sixteenth 


101 


102 


FURTHER  INDIA 


century  history  in  Europe  made  itself  apace.  The 
United  Provinces  had  achieved  their  independence; 
Spain  and  Portugal  had  come  under  the  sceptre  of  Philip 
II,  who  thus  united  in  his  single  person  the  sovereignty 
of  the  discoveries  in  the  Eastern  and  the  Western  world, 
which  had  been  made  by  the  two  great  nations  of  the 
Peninsula ; the  globe  had  been  circumnavigated  by 
Drake  and  by  Cavendish ; and  most  important  of  all,  in 
so  far  as  the  fate  of  the  East  was  concerned,  the  pride  and 
strength  of  the  greatest  maritime  peoples  of  Europe  had 
been  humbled  to  the  dust  by  the  defeat  of  the  Invincible 
Armada.  During  the  sixteenth  century  the  trade  of  Asia 
poured  into  Lisbon,  carried  thither  in  Portuguese  bot- 
toms, and  its  distribution  throughout  the  countries  of 
Europe  was  mainly  conducted  by  the  traders  of  Holland. 
Philip’s  decree  forbidding  Dutch  merchants  to  reside  in 
or  to  hold  commerce  with  Lisbon  was  a blow  directed 
against  the  material  prosperity  of  the  Netherlands  ; but 
though  for  a time  the  measure  caused  considerable  dis- 
tress, it  served  in  the  end  as  a stimulant  to  the  Hollanders 
inciting  them  to  find  their  way  to  Asia  on  their  own 
account,  and  thus  to  break  up  the  monopoly  so  long 
enjoyed  by  Portugal  and  partially  shared  by  Spain. 

The  first  expedition,  which  had  for  its  object  the  estab- 
lishment of  direct  commercial  relations  between  English 
merchants  and  the  East,  sailed  in  1591,  three  years  after 
the  defeat  of  the  Armada.  It  consisted  of  a fleet  of  three 
vessels  under  the  command  of  Raymond  and  Lancaster, 
and  the  enterprise  was  conducted  upon  lines  as  frankly 
piratical  as  the  heart  of  an  Elizabethan  could  desire.  On 


EAST  INDIA  COMPANIES  103 


the  way  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  a “ Portugal  carawel 
laden  by  merchants  of  Lisbon  for  Brasile  ” was  snapped 
up,  containing  “ divers  necessaries  fit  for  our  voyage : 
which  wine,  oyle,  olives  and  capers  were  better  to  us  than 
gold,”  as  Edmund  Barker,  Lieutenant,  appreciatively  re- 
cords. In  June,  1592,  Lancaster,  after  cruising  off  the 
north  of  Sumatra,  reached  “ Pulo  Pinaon  ” (Penang), 
where  he  decided  to  await  the  change  of  the  monsoon. 
Here  many  men  died  of  sickness,  and  when  Lancaster 
put  to  sea  his  company  numbered  only  thirty-three  men 
and  one  boy,  “ of  which  not  twenty-two  were  found  for 
labour  and  helpe,  and  of  them  not  a third  part  sailors.” 
None  the  less  the  adventurers  did  not  hesitate  to  give 
chase  to  “ three  ships,  being  all  of  burthen  sixty  or 
seventy  tunnes,  one  of  which  we  made  to  strike  with  our 
very  boat,”  though  her  consorts  were  spared  because 
the  goods  they  contained  belonged  to  natives  of  Pegu, 
and  not,  like  those  which  she  contained,  to  the  hated 
“ Portugals.”  In  September  Lancaster  sailed  southward 
into  the  Straits  of  Malacca  as  far  as  Pulau  Sambilan,  a 
little  group  of  islands  situated  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Perak  River,  where  he  lay  in  wait  for  shipping  passing  to 
and  from  Malacca.  He  succeeded  in  effecting  the  cap- 
ture of  two  important  Portuguese  vessels,  which  made 
only  a poor  resistance,  and  then,  “ douting  the  forces  of 
Malacca,”  as  well  he  might,  he  made  his  way  northward 
to  Junk  Ceylon,  back  to  Sumatra,  and  thence  to  the  Nic- 
obars.  After  short  stays  at  the  first  and  last  of  these 
places,  he  proceeded  to  Ceylon,  where  it  had  been  his  in- 
tention to  await  a fitting  opportunity  to  fall  upon  the 


104 


FURTHER  INDIA 


Portuguese  ships  sailing  from  India,  but  his  crews  had 
had  their  fill  of  wanderings  and  adventures,  and  as  their 
leader  was  stricken  down  by  sickness  at  this  juncture, 
they  insisted  upon  sailing  for  the  Cape.  Lancaster’s 
voyage  could  hardly  be  accounted  much  of  a success,  but 
it  was  memorable  because  it  was  the  first  attempt  made 
by  the  English  to  strike  right  into  the  heart  of  the  Por- 
tuguese empire  in  the  East.  Drake  and  Cavendish  had 
both  passed  through  the  Malayan  Archipelago,  and  each 
had  done  his  best  to  cause  trouble  to  the  Spaniards  be- 
fore ever  Lancaster  sailed  from  Plymouth;  but  Caven- 
dish, at  any  rate,  had  had  some  not  unfriendly  inter- 
course with  the  Portuguese  merchants  in  Java,  and  both 
he  and  Drake  had  come  by  the  Cape  Horn  route,  and  had 
sailed  for  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  without  attempting  to 
penetrate  into  the  Straits  of  Malacca.  Lancaster,  on  the 
contrary,  though  in  effect  he  accomplished  little,  sailed 
round  Africa  by  the  great  Portuguese  highway ; harried 
Portuguese  shipping  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Perak  River ; and  captured  vessels  almost  within  sight 
of  the  great  Portuguese  stronghold  of  Malacca.  This 
was  a considerable  achievement,  for  he  had  given  practi- 
cal demonstration  of  the  fact  that  the  position  of  the 
Portuguese  in  the  East  was  by  no  means  unassailable,  and 
he  brought  back  with  him  some  valuable  information,  not 
only  regarding  routes  and  trade,  but  also  on  the  subject 
of  the  political  situation  in  Asia. 

During  the  last  decade  of  the  sixteenth  century,  indeed, 
the  secrecy  which  the  Portuguese  had  been  at  such  pains 
to  maintain  concerning  their  eastern  conquests  and  dis- 


J.  Huygen  Van  Linschoten 

From  his  \ oyages  to  the  East  Indies,”  by  permission  of  the 
Hakluyt  Society 


EAST  INDIA  COMPANIES  105 


coveries  began  to  be  penetrated  by  the  other  nations  of 
Europe.  A period  was  set  to  the  time  during  which  all 
detailed  information  concerning  the  geography,  the  trade, 
the  politics  and  the  peoples  of  the  East  was,  in  a sense, 
the  exclusive  and  jealously  guarded  property  of  Portugal. 
The  capture  of  the  carrack,  the  Madre  de  Dios , by  the 
English  in  1592,  on  board  which  was  a copy  of  the 
“ Notable  Register  and  Matricole  of  the  whole  Govern- 
ment and  Trade  of  the  Portuguese  in  the  East  Indies,” 
furnished  the  merchants  of  London  with  much  precious 
information  which  hitherto  had  been  withheld  from  all 
the  world,  and  this  document  became  in  fact  the  pros- 
spectus  of  the  first  British  East  India  Company.  Dr. 
Thorne,  an  Englishman  who  had  long  resided  in  Seville, 
also  supplied  his  countrymen  with  a valuable  report  on 
the  political  and  commercial  relations  of  Spain  and  Por- 
tugal with  the  East.  A similar  service  was  rendered  to 
the  merchants  of  Holland  by  Jan  Huy  gen  van  Lin- 
schoten,  who  had  resided  many  years  at  Goa  under  the 
patronage  of  the  Archbishop,  Vincente  de  Fonseca,  and 
had  collected  a great  store  of  information  relating  to  all 
the  eastern  lands  with  which  the  Portuguese  held  com- 
merce. Linschoten  returned  to  Holland  in  September, 
1592,  and  two  years  later  the  States  General  granted  him 
a license  to  publish  his  work.  Its  appearance,  however, 
was  delayed  until  1 596,  as  its  author,  who  shared  the  then 
popular  belief  in  the  possibility  of  opening  a trade-route 
to  the  Indies  via  the  north  of  Europe  and  Asia,  wasted 
this  period  upon  a fruitless  voyage  undertaken  with  that 
object.  Although  his  book  was  not  given  to  the  public 


io6 


FURTHER  INDIA 


until  1596,  it  seems  probable  that  the  manuscript  was 
examined  by  many  who  were  interested  in  the  future  of 
Holland’s  trade  with  Asia,  and  its  subsequent  publication, 
and  translation  into  many  tongues,  dealt  a tremendous 
blow  to  Portugal,  for  it  contained  a merciless  exposure  of 
the  futility  of  her  system  and  of  the  rottenness  which  was 
eating  into  the  heart  of  her  administration  in  the  East. 

On  April  2,  1595,  a fleet  of  four  vessels,  equipped  by 
the  newly  established  Dutch  East  India  Company,  sailed 
from  the  Texel,  under  the  command  of  Cornelius  Hout- 
man.  The  Cape  route  was  followed,  and  in  June,  1596, 
the  fleet  reached  Sumatra.  Coasting  towards  the  south, 
Houtman  passed  through  the  Straits  of  Sunda,  and  made 
a considerable  stay  at  Bantam,  the  town  at  the  north- 
western extremity  of  Java,  where  a Portuguese  factory 
was  already  in  existence,  and  where  the  Dutchmen  speed- 
ily obtained  permission  to  establish  a trading-post  of  their 
own.  Their  coming  was,  of  course,  viewed  with  great 
dissatisfaction  by  the  Portuguese,  and  though  the  latter 
concealed  their  hostility,  they  set  to  work  to  intrigue 
against  their  rivals,  and  succeeded  so  well  that  serious 
misunderstandings  arose  between  Houtman  and  the  na- 
tives. After  leaving  Bantam,  the  Dutch  adventurers 
passed  to  Jaccatra,  the  town  upon  the  ruins  of  which 
Batavia,  the  modern  capital  of  the  Dutch  East  Indies,  has 
been  reared,  and  thence,  coasting  along  the  northern 
shores  of  Java,  visited  Bali  and  Lombok.  At  the  latter 
place  he  found  that  his  crews  had  been  so  much  reduced 
that  their  number  no  longer  sufficed  to  work  all  the  ships, 
and  the  Amsterdam , a vessel  of  200  tons,  was  abandoned 


From  Nordenskiold  “ Pcriplus 


EAST  INDIA  COMPANIES  107 


and  burned.  Houtman  then  set  sail  across  the  Indian 
Ocean,  doubled  the  Cape,  and  reached  the  Texel  in  Au- 
gust, 1597,  having  with  him  only  eighty-nine  men  out  of 
the  company,  249  strong,  which  had  shipped  with  him 
little  more  than  two  years  earlier. 

His  voyage  is  chiefly  interesting  because  it  illustrates 
the  different  policy  adopted  from  the  beginning  by  the 
Dutch,  as  compared  with  that  of  the  Portuguese.  The 
methods  of  the  latter  we  have  already  examined : the 
qualities  which  characterised  the  Dutch  system  may  be 
summed  up  in  a few  words.  To  begin  with  the  Hollan- 
ders had  in  view  a single  object — trade.  They  evinced 
no  desire  to  proselytise,  or  to  insult  the  religious  or  social 
prejudices  of  the  natives.  They  made  no  attempt  at  fili- 
bustering ; behaved  with  considerable  self-restraint  in  very 
trying  circumstances  at  Bantam ; and  their  generally 
peaceful  and  orderly  behaviour  made  a deep  impression 
on  the  Orientals  who  had  become  used  to  the  license  of 
the  Portuguese.  This  favourable  view  of  the  newcomers 
was  confirmed  at  a later  period  by  better  acquaintance 
with  the  Dutchmen,  and  Pyrard  de  Laval,  for  instance, 
tells  us  that  at  Bantam  “the  king  had  an  affection  to- 
wards them  and  the  people  loved  them.”  Their  claim 
upon  the  good  will  of  the  natives  rested  also  to  no  small 
extent  upon  their  open  hostility  to  the  Portuguese,  and 
though  they  were  guilty  of  many  acts  of  piracy,  they 
tried  to  make  a distinction  between  the  property  of  their 
European  enemies  and  that  of  Asiatic  traders.  Speaking 
generally,  both  the  Dutch  and  the  English  were  well  re- 
ceived in  the  East,  principally  because  they  were  not 


io8 


FURTHER  INDIA 


Portuguese,  and  because  their  coming  was  known  to  be 
viewed  with  intense  disfavour  by  those  white  men  who 
had  earned  and  deserved  the  hatred  of  the  native  popula- 
tions. Houtman,  therefore,  was  able  to  bring  back  with 
him  a very  encouraging  report  of  the  prospects  presented 
by  the  newly  opened  trade  between  Holland  and  the 
Indies,  and  so  quick  were  the  merchants  of  the  Nether- 
lands to  seize  the  advantages  thus  offered  to  them  that  by 
the  summer  of  1601 — only  six  and  a half  years  after  the 
sailing  of  the  first  expedition — no  less  than  forty-nine 
Dutch  vessels  had  been  sent  out  bound  for  Malaya  via 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

Meanwhile,  on  December  31st,  1599,  the  Charter  of 
Incorporation  of  the  first  British  East  India  Company 
had  been  granted,  “ Being  a privilege  for  fifteen  years  to 
certain  adventurers  for  the  discovery  of  the  trade  of  the 
East  Indies,  namely,  George  Clifford,  Earl  of  Cumberland 
and  215  knights,  aldermen,  and  merchants.”  A capital  of 
£ 72,000  was  subscribed,  and  on  February  16th,  1600, 
Lancaster  sailed  from  England  in  command  of  the  first 
fleet  of  the  East  India  Company.  Taking  the  Cape 
route,  he  reached  Achem  (Acheh)  on  June  5th,  1602, 
delivered  a letter  addressed  by  Queen  Elizabeth  to  the 
king  of  that  state,  established  good  relations  with  him 
and  his  people,  and  opened  a factory  in  his  capital.  A 
Portuguese  ambassador  from  Malacca  tried  vainly  to  in- 
duce the  King  to  have  no  dealings  with  the  Englishmen, 
but  the  Achehnese  had  from  the  first  constituted  them- 
selves the  especial  defenders  of  the  brown  man’s  birth- 
right against  the  aggression  of  the  Portuguese,  and  they 


Further  India 


From  Blaew’s  Atlas,  1663 


EAST  INDIA  COMPANIES  109 


were  accordingly  prepared  to  give  a warm  welcome  to 
any  Europeans  who  were  enemies  of  the  hated  race. 
Lancaster  not  only  carried  on  his  trade  in  Acheh  with- 
out molestation  under  the  protection  of  its  king,  but 
actually  used  the  place  as  his  base  of  operations  for  a 
piratical  raid  which  he  presently  made  upon  the  Portu- 
guese in  the  Straits  of  Malacca — an  expedition  which 
resulted  in  the  capture  of  one  very  rich  prize.  On  his  re- 
turn to  Acheh  a treaty  of  friendship  was  made  with  the 
King,  and  Lancaster  coasted  along  Sumatra,  passed 
through  the  Straits  of  Sunda,  and  opened  a factory  at 
Bantam.  Thence  he  sailed  for  England,  leaving  behind 
him  eight  men  and  two  factors,  the  chief  of  whom  was 
Master  William  Starkey,  whose  purely  mercantile  charge 
must  be  regarded  as  the  germ  out  of  which  there  grew 
in  the  course  of  time  Great  Britain’s  enormous  empire 
in  the  East. 

Bantam  itself  had  been  first  visited  by  the  Portuguese 
in  15 1 1,  when,  immediately  after  the  fall  of  Malacca, 
Henrique  Leme,  one  of  Dalboquerque’s  captains,  touched 
at  the  port.  Houtman,  as  we  have  seen,  established  a 
trading-post  there  in  1 596,  at  which  time  a Portuguese 
factory  was  already  in  existence,  and  the  station  now 
founded  by  Lancaster  became  later  the  principal  Presi- 
dency of  the  British  East  Indies  to  which  the  agencies  of 
Madras,  Bengal  and  Surat  were  alike  subordinate.  The 
importance  of  Bantam  for  both  the  English  and  the 
Dutch  lay  in  the  fact  that  it  furnished  a convenient  centre 
from  which  to  trade  with  Sumatra  for  pepper,  and 
especially  with  the  Moluccas  for  spices,  the  latter  being 


1 10 


FURTHER  INDIA 


the  most  precious  produce  in  the  East.  No  sooner  had 
the  Dutch  power  in  the  Malayan  Archipelago  attained  to 
sufficient  proportions  than  a descent  was  made  upon 
Amboyna,  which  was  captured  by  Van  Nek  in  1599,  al- 
though the  Portuguese  had  a fort  on  Tidor.  Two  years 
later  the  Portuguese  sent  a fleet  under  Andre  Furtado 
“ to  expel  the  rebel  Hollanders,”  and  for  the  moment 
Amboyna  was  retaken.  Aided  by  the  Spaniards,  who 
were  now  strongly  established  in  the  Philippines,  the 
Portuguese  tried  in  1603  to  annex  Ternate,  but  the  at- 
tempt failed,  and  in  1605  the  Dutch  made  another  swoop 
upon  the  Moluccas,  their  leader,  Van  der  Hagen,  driving 
the  Portuguese  not  only  out  of  Amboyna  but  also  out  of 
Tidor.  Two  years  later  Pedro  de  Acuna,  the  Spanish 
Governor  of  the  Philippines,  attacked  the  Dutch  and  de- 
prived them  of  all  their  possessions  in  the  Moluccas,  ex- 
cept Amboyna. 

Meanwhile,  in  1606,  the  Dutch  under  Matelief  laid 
seige  to  Malacca  itself,  thus  striking  at  the  very  heart  of 
the  Portuguese  power  in  Southeastern  Asia,  and  it  is  to 
be  noted  that  the  Sultan  of  Johor  took  part  in  the  cam- 
paign against  the  successors  of  Dalboquerque.  It  was  in 
these  latter  years  that  the  Portuguese  began  to  reap  the 
crop  of  hatred  which  they  had  sown  among  the  natives  of 
the  East  during  the  preceding  century.  The  Portuguese 
Viceroy,  Martin  Affonso  de  Castro,  sailed  from  Goa  to 
the  relief  of  Malacca  with  the  greatest  armada  which  had 
ever  quitted  that  port.  In  the  first  instance  he  attacked 
Acheh,  whose  king  had,  as  usual,  befriended  the  enemies 
of  Portugal,  and  was  heavily  repulsed.  He  then  passed 


EAST  INDIA  COMPANIES  m 


into  the  Straits  of  Malacca,  forcing  Matelief  to  raise 
the  siege,  but  was  immediately  after  trounced  most 
soundly  by  that  redoubtable  Dutchman  in  a great  sea 
fight.  For  the  moment,  however,  Malacca  itself  was 
saved,  but  a death-blow  to  the  prestige  of  Portugal  in 
Malaya  had  been  dealt,  and  from  that  moment  the  fate 
of  the  first  conquerors  of  Malacca  was  sealed.  Matelief, 
flushed  with  victory,  sailed  to  the  Moluccas,  where  in 
the  following  year  he  succeeded  in  driving  the  Spaniards 
out  of  Tidor.  Till  1611  this  island  was  held  by  the 
Dutch,  but  in  that  year  it  was  retaken  by  the  Spaniards 
together  with  the  island  of  Banda,  though  soon  after  the 
Dutch  reestablished  themselves  in  Ternate.  In  1641, 
however,  Malacca  fell  before  the  joint  attack  of  the  Hol- 
landers and  the  Achehnese,  and  passed  into  the  keeping 
of  the  former,  as  also  in  the  course  of  time  did  the 
Moluccas  and  most  of  the  islands  of  the  Malayan  Archi- 
pelago. 

After  the  final  defeat  of  the  Portuguese  and  the  con- 
quest of  Malacca  the  power  of  Holland  in  Malaya  grew 
rapidly.  By  means  of  superior  energy  and  enterprise  the 
Dutch  contrived  to  engross  the  greater  part  of  the  spice- 
trade,  leaving  to  the  English  traders  only  an  insignificant 
residue.  In  1682,  by  fomenting  an  insurrection  headed 
by  the  son  of  the  King  of  Bantam,  they  succeeded  in  driv- 
ing the  British  out  of  Java,  which  they  then  annexed 
little  by  little,  till  they  had  made  themselves  masters  of  the 
whole.  The  English  fell  back  upon  Sumatra,  where  they 
held  factories  in  Acheh,  at  Priaman,  Fort  Marlborough, 
and  at  Bengkulen,  stations  which  became  of  less  and  less 


1 1 2 


FURTHER  INDIA 


importance  as  England  gradually  began  to  win  a new 
empire  in  India.  On  the  mainland  the  Dutch  estab- 
lished trading-posts  in  Perak  and  Selangor,  but  through 
these  were  presently  withdrawn.  Malacca  was  held  until 
1 795,  when  it  was  attacked  and  taken  by  the  British;  it 
was  restored  to  Holland  in  1 8 1 8 under  the  Treaty  of 
Vienna,  but  six  years  later  was  exchanged  for  Beukulen, 
and  this  time  passed  finally  into  the  keeping  of  Great 
Britain.  The  East  India  Company  had  meanwhile 
founded  a settlement  on  the  island  of  Penang,  which  was 
leased  by  them  from  the  Raja  of  Kedah  in  1786,  and  in 
1798  the  territory  on  the  mainland,  now  known  as  Prov- 
ince Wellesley,  was  purchased  for  $2,000.  Sir  Stanford 
Raffles,  whose  statesman’s  eye  saw  the  strategic  and  com- 
mercial value  of  the  position,  obtained  the  cession  of  the 
island  of  Singapore  from  the  Sultan  of  Johor  in  1819, 
but  the  territory  immediately  behind  the  town  of  Malacca 
was  not  brought  under  British  jurisdiction  until  1833. 
An  English  expedition  invaded  and  took  possession  of 
Java  in  1811,  but  in  1818  the  island  was  restored  to 
Holland.  The  remaining  British  settlements  on  the  is- 
land of  Sumatra  were  ceded  to  the  Dutch  by  a treaty 
concluded  in  1871,  under  the  provisions  of  which  Hol- 
land abandoned  all  claims  in  the  Malay  Peninsula,  and 
with  the  extension  of  British  influence  throughout  the 
Native  States  Of  the  mainland,  which  began  in  1874,  the 
real  exploration  of  this  Malayan  region  had  its  beginning. 
Up  to  this  time  the  Malay  Peninsula,  in  all  save  its 
coast-line  and  its  ports,  at  some  of  which  small  Dutch 
factories  had  from  time  to  time  been  established,  was 


EAST  INDIA  COMPANIES  113 


a complete  terra  incognita  to  Europeans.  The  story  of 
its  subsequent  exploration  will  be  told  in  a later  chapter. 

To  return  now  to  the  doings  of  the  East  India  Com- 
panies in  the  other  lands  of  southeastern  Asia,  it  was  not 
until  1618  that  trade  began  to  be  conducted  by  the  Brit- 
ish with  the  valley  of  the  Irawadi,  the  exploitation  of  which 
by  Portuguese  adventurers  has  already  been  noted.  Cu- 
riously enough  the  first  of  the  Company’s  factors  to  visit 
Burma  came,  not  from  India,  but  overland  from  Siam. 
In  1618  the  factor  at  the  Siamese  capital,  Lucas  Anthon- 
ison  by  name,  sent  a sub-factor,  one  Thomas  Samuel,  up 
the  Menam  to  Zengomay  ( Chieng  Mai ),  to  investigate 
the  prospects  of  trade  in  that  place,  which  shortly  before 
had  passed  into  the  hands  of  Siam.  The  forces  of  the 
King  of  Ava  retook  Chieng  Mai  while  Samuel  was  still 
there,  and  the  unfortunate  merchant  was  carried  to  Pegu 
with  all  his  property,  and  soon  afterwards  died  there.  He 
was  not  the  first  white  man  to  accomplish  the  journey 
from  Ayuthia  to  Pegu,  since  the  Portuguese  contingent 
which  aided  the  Peguan  army  in  its  invasion  of  Siam  in 
1 548  must  have  traversed  approximately  the  same  line  of 
country  ; but  his  arrival  led  indirectly  to  the  opening  up  of 
commerce  with  that  country  by  the  agents  of  the  British 
Company.  Anthonison,  who  had  meanwhile  been  trans- 
ferred to  Masulipatam,  no  sooner  heard  what  had  befallen 
Samuel  than  he  despatched  two  sub-factors  to  Burma, 
ostensibly  to  enquire  for  the  dead  merchant’s  effects,  but 
really  with  a view  to  establishing  trade.  He  was  badly 
served  by  his  agents,  who  tried  to  keep  the  commerce  of 
Burma  in  their  own  hands  and  to  discourage  its  exten- 


n4 


FURTHER  INDIA 


sion,  but  none  the  less  British  intercourse  with  the  country 
shortly  afterwards  became  freer  than  it  ever  was  again 
until  after  the  annexation  of  Pegu  in  1852.  The  East 
India  Company  had  settlements  at  Prome,  Ava  and  Sir- 
ian,  and  a trading-post  somewhere  on  the  confines  of 
China,  at  a place  which  in  all  probability  was  Bhamo,  on 
the  Irawadi,  over  300  miles  above  Mandalay.  The  Dutch 
Company  also  had  a considerable  trade  with  Burma,  pos- 
sessing factories  in  the  upper  districts,  and,  it  is  said, 
occupying  the  island  of  Negrais.  From  1631  to  1677 
they  had  a factory  at  Sirian,  once  the  capital  of  the 
ill-fated  de  Brito,  and  Valentyn  attributes  their  abandon- 
ment of  trade  with  Burma  to  the  constant  wars  which  in 
this  region  made  peaceful  commerce  impossible.  The 
British  trade  also  languished,  but  between  1680  and  1684 
the  Company  reestablished  its  factories  in  Burma,  and  in 
1686-7  the  island  of  Negrais  was  surveyed  and  taken 
nominal  possession  of  by  the  English.  In  1695  Nathaniel 
Higginson,  the  Governor  of  Fort  St.  George,  sent  Edward 
Fleetwood  and  Capt.  James  Lesley  to  Ava  with  presents 
to  the  King,  out  of  which  the  sender,  who  instructed  his 
agents  to  haggle  manfully,  hoped  to  make  a profit  in  the 
form  of  return-gifts.  A grant  for  a new  factory  at  Sirian 
was  obtained,  and  a Resident  was  appointed  there  to  su- 
pervise the  trade,  but  almost  immediately  afterwards  a gen- 
eral expulsion  of  foreigners  took  place,  and  thenceforth 
the  East  India  Company  had  no  direct  financial  stake  in 
Burmese  commerce.  Sirian,  however,  continued  to  be 
the  residence  of  British  and  other  foreign  merchants,  and 
when  the  Siamese  and  the  Peguans,  leagued  together 


Further  India 

From  Danville’s  Map  of  Asia,  1755 


EAST  INDIA  COMPANIES  115 


against  Ava,  took  the  place  in  1740,  these  strangers  were 
not  molested.  Three  years  later  Sirian  was  retaken  by 
Ava,  and  subsequently  was  burned  by  the  Peguans,  when 
the  British,  whose  Resident,  Mr.  Smart,  had  acted,  as  be- 
fitted his  name,  with  duplicity  in  his  dealings  with  both 
parties,  were  obliged  to  retire.  Negrais  was  settled  from 
Madras  in  1753,  while  war  was  once  more  raging  be- 
tween Ava  and  Pegu,  and  two  years  later  the  British 
factory  at  Bassein  was  destroyed  by  the  former.  A mis- 
sion under  Captain  Baker  was  sent  to  Ava  to  ask  for 
redress  and  to  offer  the  support  of  the  Company,  which 
had  been  prudently  withheld  until  the  defeat  of  the  Peg- 
uans had  become  a manifest  certainty.  Baker  was  badly 
received,  and  when  he  spoke  of  “ assistance  ” the  King 
bared  his  thighs,  smote  them  with  his  palms,  laughed  in- 
sultingly in  the  envoy’s  face  and  asked  him  what  he 
thought  such  a king  as  he  had  to  do  with  aid  from  any 
man!  In  1757  another  envoy,  Ensign  Lister,  was  sent 
up  the  Irawadi  to  Ava,  and  as  the  result  of  a most  hu- 
miliating interview,  a new  factory  was  opened  at  Bassein. 
In  1759  Negrais  was  practically  abandoned,  only  a small 
staff  remaining  there  in  charge  of  the  buildings,  and  the 
entire  population  of  the  island,  including  ten  Europeans, 
was  treacherously  murdered  very  soon  afterwards  by  the 
Burmese.  The  weakness  which  characterised  the  deal- 
ings of  the  Company  with  Burma  was  never  better  ex- 
emplified than  by  the  action  taken  on  this  occasion,  for 
the  envoy  sent  to  plead  for  redress  was  received  with  con- 
tempt and  insult,  and  there  the  matter  ended.  Bassein  was 
now  abandoned,  but  some  trade  was  carried  on  with  Ran- 


1 1 6 FURTHER  INDIA 

goon  until  1794,  the  merchants  doing  little  business,  while 
the  Company’s  agents  possessed  no  political  influence,  and 
occupied  for  the  most  part  positions  of  great  humiliation. 

Over  Chittagong  and  Assam,  however,  the  Company 
had  established  its  hold,  and  when  in  1794  the  Burmese 
sent  5,000  armed  men  into  the  former  province  “ to  ar- 
rest robbers  dead  or  alive,”  the  British  at  last  showed 
fight,  and  the  Burmese  yielded  without  forcing  the  issue. 
The  following  year  Capt.  Michael  Symes  was  sent  upon 
his  famous  embassy  to  Ava,  a mission  of  which  he  sub- 
sequently wrote  an  elaborate  account.  He  was  accom- 
panied by  Lieutenant  Woods,  who  made  the  first  reliable 
survey  of  the  Irawadi  from  Rangoon  to  Ava,  and  by  Dr. 
Buchanan,  who  collected  a great  deal  of  information 
bearing  upon  the  districts  traversed.  This  was  the  only 
really  important  achievement  of  the  mission,  for  Symes 
was  treated  with  the  utmost  insolence,  was  presented  to 
the  King,  in  circumstances  of  intense  humiliation,  upon 
a kodau,  or  “ beg-pardon  day,”  and  effected  nothing  of 
any  importance.  He  moreover  carried  away  with  him  a 
wholly  exaggerated  idea  of  the  might  of  Ava,  and  though 
Cox,  the  next  envoy,  corrected  his  predecessor’s  erroneous 
impressions,  Symes  was  regarded  at  the  time  as  the  more 
reliable  authority,  and  his  book  was  probably  not  with- 
out its  effect  in  leading  the  Government  of  India  into 
continuing  the  weak-kneed  policy  which  had  too  long 
been  followed  towards  the  arrogant  Burmese  Court.  Be- 
tween the  time  of  Cox’s  visit  and  1810  three  other  mis- 
sions were  sent  to  Ava,  each  in  turn  to  be  subjected  to 
insults  which  it  is  humiliating  to  recall,  and  on  each 


EAST  INDIA  COMPANIES  117 


occasion  the  King  declined  to  take  the  slightest  notice 
of  the  letters  sent  by  the  Governor-General,  deeming  it 
below  him  to  have  any  dealings  with  one  who  was  not  a 
crowned  head.  All  these  missions  followed  the  river 
route  to  Amarapura,  the  then  residence  of  the  King,  and 
no  material  addition  was  made  to  the  information  which 
had  been  collected  by  the  officers  attached  to  Symes’s 
mission.  Ava  during  the  whole  of  this  time  continued 
to  treat  foreigners  with  the  utmost  contumely,  and  in 
1805,  for  instance,  all  the  British  subjects  in  Rangoon 
were  imprisoned,  owing  to  some  misunderstanding 
which  arose  over  the  seizure  by  the  Company  of  a ship 
in  whose  cargo  the  Burmese  authorities  were  in  some  way 
interested.  The  Company,  however,  was  long-suffering, 
and  it  was  not  until  Chittagong  had  been  repeatedly 
raided  that  war  was  at  last  declared.  Sir  Archibald 
Campbell  ascended  the  Irawadi  and  reached  Prome  on 
April  4th,  1825,  where  he  went  into  cantonments  until 
the  end  of  the  rainy  season.  The  land  column  under 
Cotton,  operating  in  conjunction  with  him,  had  been 
heavily  repulsed  by  the  Burmese  at  Donabyu,  but  other- 
wise the  resistance  offered  had  been  poor.  In  September 
the  King  sent  down  from  Ava  to  know  on  what  terms 
the  British  army  would  retire.  The  reply  was  that 
Arakan  and  Tenasserim  must  be  ceded  to  the  Company. 
The  King  declined,  and  hostilities  were  renewed,  the 
Burmese  being  badly  beaten  a little  north  of  Prome.  As 
the  British  army  continued  to  advance,  the  King  decided 
to  sue  for  peace,  and  on  February  24th,  1826,  the  peace 
of  Yandabu  was  signed,  whereby  Tavoi,  Mergui,  and 


1 1 8 FURTHER  INDIA 

Tenasserim — together  constituting  the  long  strip  of  coun- 
try lying  between  the  Bay  of  Bengal  and  the  frontiers  of 
Siam — were  ceded  to  the  British,  and  with  Arakan  be- 
came the  foundation  of  our  Burmese  empire. 

The  same  year  John  Crawfurd  was  sent  to  negotiate 
the  commercial  treaty  which  had  been  provided  for  in 
the  terms  of  peace,  but  the  Court  of  Ava  had  not  yet 
learned  its  lesson,  for  though  his  reception  compared 
favourably  with  those  accorded  to  his  predecessors,  he 
met  with  both  impertinence  and  bad  faith.  On  Decem- 
ber 31st,  1829,  Major  Burney  was  appointed  British  Resi- 
dent at  Ava,  a position  which  he  held  with  distinction 
for  eight  years,  only  retiring  to  Rangoon  and  sailing  for 
England  after  the  usurpation  of  the  crown  by  the  savage 
and  arrogant  King  Tharawadi  had  robbed  him  of  all  in- 
fluence. With  the  appointment  of  Burney  to  this  post 
at  Ava  a new  chapter  opens  in  the  story  of  the  explora- 
tion of  Burma,  but  its  details  will  have  to  be  examined 
by  us  later  on. 

Turning  next  to  Siam,  we  find  that  intercourse  between 
this  country  and  the  Dutch  East  India  Company  began 
as  early  as  1604,  before  a decade  had  elapsed  since  the 
sailing  of  the  first  vessels  from  the  Texel;  and  in  1608  a 
Siamese  mission  was  sent  to  the  Dutch  factory  at  Bantam. 
It  was  not,  however,  until  1634  that  a Dutch  post  was 
established  in  Siam,  and  in  1663  the  Company  withdrew 
its  agent,  averring  that  its  agreement  with  Siam  had  been 
violated  by  the  latter.  That  Siam  saw  the  removal  of 
the  factors  with  regret  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  in  the 
following  year  an  embassy  was  sent  to  Batavia,  by  means 


EAST  INDIA  COMPANIES  119 


of  which  friendly  relations  were  once  more  established. 
These  continued  unabated  for  some  years,  the  Dutch 
agent  in  1685  being  the  first  foreigner  ever  admitted  to 
the  presence  of  the  King.  In  1706,  however,  a differ- 
ence arose  once  more,  and  this  time  the  Dutch  were 
obliged  to  ask  for  such  terms  as  the  Siamese  were  dis- 
posed to  grant  to  them.  Subsequently  the  trade  between 
the  Hollanders  and  Siam  languished  and  almost  ceased. 
In  1740  an  effort  was  made  to  restore  the  former  state  of 
things,  the  King  of  Siam  making  friendly  overtures  to 
the  Dutch,  but  the  negotiations  led  to  nothing,  and  so 
completely  did  the  intercourse  between  the  Dutch  and 
the  Siamese  cease  that  when  Bowring  visited  Bangkok 
in  1857,  he  found  no  trace  remaining  there  to  show  that 
the  connection,  which  had  lasted  for  more  than  a century, 
had  ever  existed. 

A remarkable  figure  in  the  history  of  Siamese  relations 
with  the  West  is  that  of  Constantine  Phaulkon,  or  Fal- 
con, a Greek  of  Cephalonia,  who  ran  away  to  England  in 
about  1640,  when  he  was  a mere  child,  and  afterwards 
sailed  for  the  Indies  in  one  of  Old  John  Company’s  ships. 
Later,  having  acquired  a vessel  of  his  own,  he  was 
wrecked  near  the  mouth  of  the  Menam,  passed  some 
years  in  Siam,  and  learned  the  language  of  the  country. 
Sailing  from  Siam,  he  had  the  misfortune  to  be  again 
wrecked  on  the  coast  of  Malabar,  his  whole  ship’s  com- 
pany perishing,  while  he  alone  escaped,  carrying  with  him 
a sum  of  2,000  crowns.  Naked  and  in  a sorry  plight,  he 
was  roaming  the  shores  upon  which  he  had  been  cast, 
when  he  lighted  upon  another  shipwrecked  mariner, 


1 20 


FURTHER  INDIA 


even  more  destitute  than  himself,  who  was  also  the  only 
survivor  of  his  crew,  and  the  moment  this  man  opened 
his  mouth  to  speak  Constantine  discovered  that  he  was  a 
native  of  Siam.  Enquiry  led  Constantine  to  ascertain  the 
fact  that  this  waif  was  a high  official  who  had  been  de- 
spatched by  his  King  on  an  embassy  to  Persia,  of  all  places, 
— yet  another  proof,  were  any  such  needed,  of  the  extent 
of  the  inter-Asiatic  intercourse  which  existed  prior  to  the 
domination  of  the  East  by  white  men — and  the  wily 
Greek,  whose  charity,  we  must  suspect,  wras  not  untainted 
by  self-seeking,  invested  his  all  in  a ship,  in  which  he  con- 
veyed his  new-found  friend  back  to  Siam.  The  man 
wrhom  he  had  thus  so  handsomely  befriended  recommended 
him  to  the  officials  in  Siam,  and  Constantine  presently  won 
for  himself  great  renown  by  his  skilful  manipulation  of  the 
accounts  of  some  Muhammadans,  whereby  he  proved  that 
far  from  the  King  being  in  their  debt,  they  owed  the 
monarch  a substantial  sum  of  money ! At  an  Oriental 
Court  tact  and  wisdom  such  as  this  were  sure  of  recogni- 
tion, and  Constantine  rose  in  the  public  service  until  he 
at  last  occupied  the  proud  position  of  Prime  Minister. 
He  attained  this  eminence  in  1665,  and  at  Lopburi  in  the 
Menam  valley  there  are  still  extant  the  ruins  of  the  works 
which  were  built  under  his  direction.  During  his  youth 
in  England  he  had  abandoned  Catholicism,  and  had  be- 
come an  Anglican,  but  the  Jesuits,  who  long  ere  this  had 
established  missions  in  China  and  in  other  parts  of  the 
Far  East,  found  him  out  and  won  him  back  to  the  faith 
of  his  fathers.  Thereafter  Constantine  appears  to  have 
cherished  a desire  to  convert  the  King  of  Siam  to  Chris- 


EAST  INDIA  COMPANIES  121 


tianity,  and  it  was  largely  through  his  agency  that  the 
missions  of  which  Pere  Tachard  and  Pere  Choisi  were 
the  chroniclers  were  despatched  to  the  Court  of  Siam 
by  Louis  XIV  in  1685  and  1687.  These  embassies,  the 
second  of  which  was  under  the  leadership  of  the  Chevalier 
de  Chaumont,  were  mainly  composed  of  Jesuits,  and  their 
sole  object  was  the  conversion  of  the  King.  They  were 
well  received,  and  the  Chevalier  de  Chaumont  was  care- 
ful to  submit  himself  to  none  of  the  humiliating  observ- 
ances which,  until  a much  later  period,  were  exacted  from 
British  envoys  to  the  Court  of  Ava ; but  the  King,  albeit 
he  was  a most  liberal-minded  monarch,  far  in  advance  of 
his  age  and  race,  had  no  intention  of  adopting  an  alien 
faith.  De  Chaumont,  therefore,  presently  returned  to 
France;  but  the  Jesuits  remained  behind, and  for  a period 
occupied  positions  of  importance  in  the  Siamese  service. 
They  were  instrumental  in  helping  to  suppress  a rebellion 
headed  by  a Muhammadan,  in  which  some  refugees  from 
Macassar  took  part,  but  they  gradually  became  hateful  to 
the  nobles  and  the  people  of  Siam,  and  were  eventually 
massacred  to  a man,  Constantine  himself  being  ignomin- 
iously  executed. 

During  the  eighteenth  century  intercourse  between 
Europeans  and  Siam  was  confined  to  the  visits  of  a few 
traders  and  missionaries,  and  Hamilton’s  Account  of  the 
East  Indies , published  in  Edinburgh  in  1727,  is  probably 
the  best  work  on  the  lands  of  southeastern  Asia  which 
that  period  produced.  It  shows,  however,  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  nothing  save  the  ports  and  coast-lines,  all 
information  relating  to  the  interior  being  derived  from 


122 


FURTHER  INDIA 


native  sources  of  no  great  accuracy.  Hamilton  may  be 
regarded  as  typical  of  his  class  and  age,  and  a study  of 
his  work  shows  us  how  slow  was  the  progress  of  know- 
ledge of  these  regions  after  the  great  discoveries  of  the 
sixteenth  and  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  centuries. 
The  missionaries,  as  ever,  were  ubiquitous  and  scornful  of 
risk,  but  they  were  for  the  most  part  inarticulate  for  us, 
and  when  in  1821  John  Crawfurd  was  sent  to  Bangkok 
and  Hue  on  a special  embassy,  George  Finlayson,  in  his 
account  of  the  mission,  writes  of  these  countries  as  though 
they  were  in  some  sort  being  rediscovered.  Hitherto,  he 
declares,  they  had  been  “ almost  unknown  to  us.”  Craw- 
furd and  his  party  were  coldly  received  in  Siam,  and  after 
a short  stay  at  the  capital  they  coasted  as  far  as  Pulau 
Kondor,  touching  at  several  islands  on  the  way.  They 
visited  Saigon,  where  they  met  a M.  Diard,  “ a lively, 
well-educated  Frenchman,”  and  passed  thence  to  Hue  by 
water  after  calling  in  at  Turon.  At  the  Court  of  Cochin- 
China  they  found  that  French  influence  was  predominant, 
but  permission  to  trade  was  granted  by  the  King  to  the 
East  India  Company,  and  the  mission  then  returned  over- 
land to  Turon.  Five  years  later  Burney,  afterwards 
Resident  at  Ava,  was  sent  to  Bangkok  to  enlist  the  co- 
operation of  the  Siamese  against  Burma,  with  which  the 
British  were  then  at  war,  but  he  was  not  too  well  received, 
and  the  peace  of  Yandabu  was  concluded  before  any 
active  steps  had  been  taken.  We  have  now  traced  the 
history  of  European  intercourse  with  Siam  up  to  the  time 
of  the  first  Burmese  war,  and  as  the  detailed  exploration 
of  the  country  is  a work  that  belongs  to  the  last  seventy 


EAST  INDIA  COMPANIES  123 


years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  it  will  be  more  conven- 
ient to  continue  the  narrative  in  a later  chapter. 

Turning  finally  to  Indo-China — namely,  Cochin-China, 
Kambodia,  Annam,  Tongking,  and  the  Laos  country  in 
the  valley  of  the  Mekong, — we  find  that  after  the  first 
settlements  had  been  formed  by  the  Portuguese  during  the 
sixteenth  century,  as  has  already  been  related,  the  British 
and  Dutch  East  India  Companies  both  established 
factories  in  this  region.  The  English  had  their  factory 
on  Pulau  Kondor,  now  the  penal  settlement  of  Saigon, 
establishing  it  there  in  1616,  but  a mutiny  of  the  Com- 
pany’s Macassar  troops,  who  had  been  kept  on  after  the 
expiration  of  the  terms  of  their  agreement,  led  to  its 
abandonment.  This,  and  the  English  factory  at  Petani, 
from  the  possession  of  which  we  were  ousted  by  the 
Dutch,  were  practically  the  only  ventures  of  the  Com- 
pany on  the  shores  of  the  China  Sea.  The  East  India 
Company  of  Holland  founded  a factory  in  Cochin-China 
in  1635,  in  competition  with  the  Portuguese,  who  had 
been  established  there  some  fifty  years  earlier,  and  the 
Dutchmen  had  also  a trading-post  at  Pnom  Penh,  the  cap- 
ital of  Kambodia.  To  them,  moreover,  belongs  the  dis- 
tinction of  having  been  the  first  to  explore  the  interior  by 
the  Mekong  route.  In  1641  some  Laos  traders  having 
come  from  Pnom  Penh  to  Batavia  in  one  of  the  Company’s 
vessels,  Van  Dieman,  the  Governor,  decided  to  attempt 
the  establishment  of  commercial  intercourse  with  their 
country.  To  this  end  he  deputed  a sub-factor  named 
Gerard  Van  Wusthof  to  visit  Laos,  then  more  or  less 
united  under  the  King  of  Vien  Chan.  The  story  of  this 


124 


FURTHER  INDIA 


remarkable  expedition  will  be  examined  in  more  detail  in 
a later  chapter  in  connection  with  the  French  mission  of 
1866,  but  it  may  be  mentioned  here  that  the  party  as- 
cended the  Mekong  as  far  as  Vien  Chan  and  resided 
there  some  months.  This  journey,  however,  was  not 
repeated,  and  did  not  lead  to  the  opening  up  of  Laos,  as 
in  1642  the  Portuguese  contrived  to  cause  the  Dutch 
factor,  Jeremias  de  Wal,  to  be  murdered  while  on  a 
journey  to  Pnom  Penh,  and  after  that  the  Dutch  factories 
in  Cochin-China  and  Kambodia  were  abandoned.  The 
Portuguese  themselves  never  penetrated  far  into  the  in- 
terior, though  an  Italian  missionary  priest,  named  Leria, 
reached  Vien  Chan  in  1642,  and  later  travelled  overland 
into  Tongking.  His  example,  however,  found  no  imita- 
tors, and  from  his  time  until  late  in  the  last  century  Laos 
was  not  visited  by  missionaries. 

For  a space  after  the  departure  of  the  Dutch  the 
Portuguese  who  remained  in  possession  exercised  con- 
siderable influence  at  the  Court  of  Kambodia  and  in  the 
delta  of  the  Mekong,  but  towards  the  end  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  the  native  officials,  instigated  it  is  said  by 
China,  organised  a general  massacre  of  the  white  men, 
dealing  a blow  to  the  power  of  the  Portuguese  in  this 
region  from  which  it  never  again  recovered. 

From  that  time  onward,  the  intercourse  of  Europeans 
with  the  lands  of  Indo-China  was  confined  to  the  mission- 
aries and  to  a few  visits  from  traders.  Most  of  the  mission- 
aries were  Frenchmen,  though  a proportion  came  from 
Spain,  and  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  saw 
the  growth  of  French  influence  in  these  regions.  The 


EAST  INDIA  COMPANIES  125 


French  Bishop,  Pigneau  de  Behaine,  is  the  commanding 
figure  in  the  drama.  He  was  born  in  1741,  came  out  to 
Cochin-China,  built  a church  at  Saigon,  and  so  won  the 
confidence  of  the  King  Ngueyen  Anh,  afterwards  better 
known  as  Gia  Long,  that  he  was  actually  entrusted  with 
the  custody  of  his  son,  whom  he  took  to  Paris  in  1787 
and  presented  at  the  Court  of  Louis  XVI.  P'rance  was 
at  the  moment  over-busy  with  her  internal  affairs,  being 
as  she  was  on  the  eve  of  the  great  Revolution,  and  be- 
yond a gift  of  arms  and  a treaty  of  alliance,  the  main  pro- 
visions of  which  were  never  fulfilled,  nothing  tangible  re- 
sulted at  the  time  from  Behaine’s  mission.  Subsequently, 
however,  the  existence  of  this  treaty  was  recalled  to 
mind,  and  the  fact  was  made  a foundation  upon  which  to 
base  France’s  right  to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  Indo- 
China. 

Behaine’s  visit,  however,  attracted  the  attention  of 
Frenchmen  to  this  distant  corner  of  the  world,  and  a 
number  of  adventurers  of  that  nationality  visited  Annam. 
By  their  aid  and  that  of  Behaine,  King  Gia  Long  suc- 
ceeded in  conquering  the  whole  of  the  ancient  kingdom 
of  Annam,  from  the  Gulf  of  Siam  to  the  frontiers  of  China, 
thus  uniting  under  a single  sceptre  Cochin-China,  Annam 
and  Tongking.  His  gratitude  to  the  white  men  who  had 
assisted  him  in  this  work  led  him  to  show  an  unwonted 
measure  of  tolerance  to  the  preachers  of  the  Christian 
religion.  When  Behaine  died  in  Saigon  in  1 789  he  was  ac- 
corded a state  funeral,  and  the  monument  erected  by  his 
patron  over  his  grave  still  ranks  as  one  of  the  most  in- 
teresting historical  relics  of  the  place.  By  1802  Gia  Long 


126 


FURTHER  INDIA 


had  made  himself  master  of  his  whole  kingdom,  and  for 
eighteen  years  more  he  ruled  it  with  an  iron  hand  and 
extended  open  tolerance  to  the  Christians.  In  1820, 
however,  he  died,  and  his  successor,  Minh  Meng,  ex- 
pelled the  French  and  persecuted  the  native  Christians 
before  he  had  been  four  years  upon  the  throne.  A 
second  massacre  of  missionaries — for  the  Roman  Catholic 
priests  of  the  Societe  des  Missions  Etrangeres  returned 
again  and  again  to  the  charge,  as  also  did  the  Spanish 
missionaries, — occurred  in  1851,  and  a war  vessel  was 
sent  to  destroy  the  forts  at  Turon.  In  1857  Bishop  Diaz, 
a Spaniard,  having  been  brutally  murdered  by  the 
authorities,  France  and  Spain  took  joint-action  with  the 
result  that  Cochin-China  was  invaded  by  a Franco-Spanish 
expedition.  It  was  not,  however,  until  the  hand  of 
France  had  been  freed  by  the  signing  of  the  Treaty  of 
Peking  in  i860,  which  put  an  end  to  the  war  with  China, 
that  really  effective  action  was  taken,  and  Cochin-China 
was  ceded  to  France. 

Kambodia  meanwhile  had  been  invaded  during  the 
latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  by  Siam  and  Annam, 
and  had  gradually  become  subservient  to  both.  In  1857 
her  King,  Ang  Duong,  appealed  for  aid  to  France,  and 
a French  protectorate  over  the  kingdom  was  proclaimed 
by  France  shortly  after  the  accession  of  his  successor 
Norodon  in  1859.  Siamese  influence  continued  to  be 
predominant  at  the  Court  of  Kambodia  until  1863,  when 
Siam  was  bought  out  by  France,  the  provinces  of  Siam- 
reap  and  Batambang  being  ceded  to  her  without  the 
knowledge  or  consent  of  the  unhappy  Norodon,  whose 


EAST  INDIA  COMPANIES  127 


protests,  however,  were  unavailing.  These  provinces 
had,  as  a matter  of  fact,  been  occupied  by  Siam  for  many 
years,  and  from  the  French  point  of  view  it  was  all-im- 
portant that  Siam’s  demands  should  be  satisfied,  and  that 
a clear  field  should  be  left  in  which  the  influence  of 
France  might  operate  unchecked.  Captain  Doudart  de 
Lagree,  of  whom  much  more  hereafter,  occupied  for 
some  time  the  post  of  Resident  at  the  Court  of  Kambo- 
dia,  and  it  was  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  on  the  great 
journey  of  exploration  which  cost  him  his  life,  that  the 
rebellion  of  Pu  Kombo  broke  out  in  that  State.  Noro- 
don  was  aided  by  French  troops  who  rescued  him  from 
a precarious  position  in  the  beleaguered  town  of  Pnom 
Penh,  and  this  led  to  the  increase  of  French  ascendency, 
so  that  to-day  though  Kambodia  is  nominally  only  a 
protectorate  of  France,  its  finances  and  administration 
are  entirely  in  the  hands  of  Frenchmen. 

In  Tongking  a Dutch  factory  had  been  established  in 
1637,  but  it  was  abandoned  in  1700,  and  after  that  time 
no  permanent  European  colony  appears  to  have  been 
formed  in  this  kingdom.  Tongking  was  conquered  and 
annexed  by  Annam  in  1802,  after  which  period  it  was  in- 
frequently visited  by  Europeans,  save  only  a few  mission- 
aries, until  the  Frenchman  Dupuis,  of  whom  something 
will  be  said  in  a later  chapter,  attempted  to  make  the 
Song  Koi  River  a highway  of  communication  and  trade 
with  China.  This  led  to  interference  on  the  part  of 
France,  and  eventually  to  the  practical  annexation  of  the 
country  after  a period  of  prolonged  and  harassing  warfare. 

The  glance  which  we  have  now  taken  at  the  history  of 


128 


FURTHER  INDIA 


European  intercourse  with  all  the  lands  of  the  great  Indo- 
Chinese  Peninsula,  from  the  coming  of  the  British  and 
Dutch  East  India  Companies  to  1826  in  the  case  of 
Burma  and  Siam,  to  the  date  of  the  active  interference  of 
France  in  the  case  of  Cochin-China,  Kambodia,  Annam 
and  Tongking,  to  the  eve  of  British  expansion  in  the  Na- 
tive States  in  the  case  of  the  Malay  Peninsula, — has 
been  necessitated,  not  because  it  adds  very  materially 
to  our  information  on  the  subject  of  the  exploration  of 
these  countries,  but  because  it  is  from  these  periods  that 
the  most  important  part  of  our  story  begins.  The 
establishment  of  European  supremacy,  or  at  any  rate  the 
wide  extension  of  European  influence,  were  necessary 
preliminaries  to  the  great  task  of  exploring  the  Hinter- 
land of  Indo-China  which  had  been  kept  jealously  closed 
to  white  men  from  the  early  days  of  the  seventeenth 
century  when  the  whole  of  the  East  not  yet  learned  be- 
gun to  fear  and  suspect  her  invaders.  The  true  explora- 
tion of  Burma  dates  from  the  appointment  of  a British 
Resident  to  Ava  after  the  first  Burmese  war ; that  of 
Siam  was  a work  left  for  accomplishment  to  the  last 
quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century;  the  interior  of  the 
Malay  Peninsula  was  almost  entirely  unknown  when 
Perak  and  Selangor  were  placed  under  British  protec- 
tion in  the  early  seventies  of  the  last  century ; while  the 
valley  of  the  Mekong  was  first  revealed  to  Europeans 
with  some  fulness  of  detail  by  the  De  Lagree-Garnier 
expedition  of  1866-1868.  It  is  with  the  last  named  jour- 
ney, as  being  at  once  the  most  important  and  in  many 
respects  the  most  interesting,  that  we  shall  now  deal. 


CHAPTER  VI 


FRANCIS  GARNIER,  THE  MAN 

IN  the  preceding  chapters  the  knowledge  gained  by 
Europeans  of  the  lands  of  southeastern  Asia  has 
been  traced  from  its  earliest  beginnings,  in  the  im- 
aginary island  of  Chryse,  the  Golden,  until  by  the  seven- 
teenth century  the  coast-lines  of  the  whole  of  the  vast 
Indo-Chinese  peninsula  had  become  familiarly  known  to 
the  geographers  and  merchants  of  the  West.  Similarly 
we  have  followed  the  growth  of  knowledge  of  this  part  of 
the  world,  and  the  events  which  contributed  to  it,  until 
in  the  nineteenth  century  the  spread  of  European  influ- 
ence in  Burma,  in  Malaya  and  in  Cochin-China  and  Kam- 
bodia  opened  the  gates  to  enquiry  and  made  the 
scientific  exploration  of  the  Hinterland  a possibility. 
The  work  lay  now  ready  to  the  hand,  and  of  all  the  men 
who  took  a share  in  it  and  succeeded  in  writing  their 
names  large  upon  the  maps  of  these  regions,  Francis 
Gamier,  the  Frenchman,  the  naval  officer,  colonial  ad- 
ministrator, explorer,  cartographer,  man  of  letters  and 
dreamer  of  dreams,  is  perhaps  the  most  arresting  figure. 

It  is  no  part  of  my  present  plan  to  attempt  a biography 
of  Francis  Gamier;  our  concern  is  with  his  achievement 
rather  than  with  his  character.  Yet  in  order  that  a true 
appreciation  of  the  former  may  be  arrived  at,  something 
must  be  known  of  the  latter.  Its  keynote  is  to  be 

129 


130  FURTHER  INDIA 

found  in  the  strong  constructive  imagination  of  the  man, 
in  his  ability  to  plan  and  to  organise,  in  his  tireless  energy, 
mental  and  physical,  in  a certain  largeness  of  view  and 
quenchless  enthusiasm,  and  withal  in  an  inspiring  nobility 
of  spirit.  Gamier  was  born  at  Saint-Etienne  in  1839,  but 
he  was  brought  up  at  Montpellier  within  sight  of  the 
sea,  which  early  exercised  over  him  a great  fascina- 
tion. He  was  educated  at  the  naval  college  at  Brest, 
into  which  he  passed  eleventh  out  of  a hundred  successful 
candidates,  and  from  which  he  in  due  time  entered  the 
regular  service  after  gaining  distinction  in  the  examina- 
tions. It  is  immediately  prior  to  his  maiden  voyage  as  a 
naval  officer  that  we  get  the  first,  and  as  I think,  the  most 
illuminating  glimpse  of  Francis  Gamier  the  man.  It 
comes  to  us  from  certain  boyish  letters  addressed  to  a 
friend,  and  though  his  opinions  are  of  a nature  little  flat- 
tering to  our  national  self-esteem,  they  may  stand  as  a 
picture  of  a young  Frenchman  of  the  best  type  in  early 
manhood.  There  are  crudities  and  absurdities  in  every 
line.  Facts  and  fictions  are  accepted  at  second-hand 
without  enquiry  or  examination,  without  test  or  proof. 
Passionately  patriotic,  Gamier  is  here  seen  to  be  the  vic- 
tim of  the  hate  that  is  ever  the  fringe  of  love,  and  the 
rank  injustice  of  the  verdicts  into  which  it  betrays  him  is 
too  exaggerated  to  arouse  anything  save  amusement. 
None  the  less,  Garnier’s  letters,  penned  at  the  age  of 
twenty,  are  instructive.  They  show  the  creed  of  anglo- 
phobia  in  which,  it  is  to  be  feared,  too  many  young 
Frenchmen  are  educated,  and  though  it  so  chanced  that 
their  author  in  after  life  won  enough  of  experience  where- 


Francis  Gamier 


FRANCIS  GARNIER  131 

with  to  correct  his  earlier  impressions,  it  is  melancholy  to 
remember  that  many  others,  who  have  imbibed  the  same 
opinions  in  youth,  have  never  had  occasion  or  opportu- 
nity to  revise  and  alter  them.  The  inherited  and  unrea- 
soning dislike  of  the  average  English  schoolboy  for 
Frenchmen  is  undeniably  strong,  but  it  is  of  a wholly 
different  brand  to  the  hate  which  here  may  be  seen  to  in- 
spire the  opinions  of  Francis  Gamier;  and  the  ordinary 
Englishman  of  our  own  time  puts  such  prejudices  off 
when  he  comes  to  man’s  estate  together  with  other  things 
of  the  child.  The  fervid  virulence  of  angry  hate  which 
finds  its  expression  in  the  following  quotations  has  no 
home  among  ourselves,  and  the  mere  fact  that  we  are  in- 
clined to  laugh  at  such  frenzies  unquestionably  adds  fuel 
to  the  flame.  It  is  the  Englishman’s  almost  contemptu- 
ous indifference  to  the  dislike  of  which  he  is  the  object, 
and  his  inability  to  return  the  sentiment  in  kind,  which 
contribute  so  largely  to  his  unpopularity  abroad. 

But  Garnier’s  tirade,  for  all  its  insensate  hatred  of  Eng- 
land, for  all  its  boyishness,  all  its  folly,  gives  token  of 
other  more  estimable  qualities.  There  is  here  the  enthu- 
siasm, the  optimism,  the  tremendous  self-confidence,  the 
generous  ambition  which  are  bred  of  youth  and  inexpe- 
rience, and  above  all  we  see  Gamier  in  the  character  that 
made  him  great,  as  the  dreamer  of  dreams  who  is  yet  a 
man  of  action  bent  upon  giving  concrete  form  to  his  im- 
aginings. His  aim  was  nothing  less  than  the  total 
destruction  of  England,  and  he  hoped  to  that  end  to  form 
a confraternity  which  should  bring  about  a consummation 
so  devoutly  to  be  wished. 


FURTHER  INDIA 


*32 

“ I tell  you,”  he  writes  to  M.  Joseph  Perre,  his  lifelor 
friend,  “ that  if  there  be  manufacturers  with  enough  hea^ 
and  intelligence  to  apply  themselves  to  the  impoverish- 
ment of  Protestant  England, — men  who  understand  suffi- 
ciently well  the  interests  of  civilisation  and  of  France  to 
desire  to  diminish  England’s  commerce  and  influence, — 
there  are  also  young  men  of  sufficient  courage,  energy, 
and  will  to  work  for  an  even  more  difficult  end.  Ideal, 
do  you  call  it  ? But  not  impossible  for  them  ; and  this 
end  is  to  overthrow  her  utterly  and  to  strike  her  name 
from  the  ranks  of  the  nations. 

“ What  young  and  ardent  soul  is  there  that  is  not,  dur- 
ing its  hours  of  aspiration  after  the  beautiful  and  the 
great,  smitten  with  some  noble  idea,  some  immense  and 
magnificent  aim  ? What  young  man  is  there  who,  in  the 
solitude  of  his  soul,  has  not  dreamed  of  the  means 
whereby  he  may  attain  the  pure  and  radiant  crown  of 
glory  which  encircles  the  brows  of  those  philanthropists 
who  have  passed  obscure  lives  in  the  most  toilsome 
labours  in  order  to  ameliorate  the  lot  of  their  kind  ? But 
soon  the  vortex  of  the  world  and  the  selfish  interests 
which  govern  it  efface  the  vividness  of  these  impressions, 
tarnish  them,  cause  them  to  be  forgotten,  and  so,  becom- 
ing sensible,  as  it  is  called,  one  loses  the  illusions  and  the 
dreams  of  youth. 

“ For  those  of  whom  I speak  to  you  it  has  not  been 
thus.  The  idea  which  appealed  to  them  was  that  of  civi- 
lisation in  general  and  of  the  regeneration  of  mankind  in 
certain  countries  in  particular. 

“ Behold  France,  the  arbiter  of  Europe,  making  use  of 


Further  India,  1840 

From  Lizar’s  Edinburgh  Map 


FRANCIS  GARNIER 


l33 


her  influence  only  for  the  happiness  and  for  the  moral 
improvement  of  the  peoples.  Behold  her  spreading 
everywhere,  whither  her  arms  have  penetrated,  benefits 
and  civilisation,  pacifying  all  confusions,  appeasing  all 
quarrels,  making  the  peoples  abroad  listen  always  to  her 
solemn  voice  when  it  has  become  necessary  to  make 
others  respect  the  rights  of  misunderstood  men. 

“ Now  look  at  England  astonishing  the  nineteenth 
century  by  her  influence  and  her  expansion.  Go  to 
India,  visit  this  country  ruined  and  impoverished  by  the 
plunderings  of  the  English  Company.  See  the  lands  lying 
waste,  the  canals  dried  up,  the  natives  brutalised  by  a de- 
grading yoke,  deprived  of  almost  all  the  rights  of  the 
native  and  the  citizen,  and  ask  yourself  if  this  is  the 
country  which  of  old  was  the  centre  of  Asiatic  civilisa- 
tion, which  was  renowned  for  her  wealth,  her  fertility  and 
for  the  might  of  her  inhabitants.  Is  this  the  part  which 
a civilised  nation  ought  to  play  towards  a vanquished 
people  ? Has  England  fulfilled  the  duty  which  her  very 
conquest  imposed  upon  her?  Go  everywhere  else 
throughout  the  English  Colonies,  and  you  will  find  only 
misery,  despair  and  forced  labour  designed  to  satisfy  an 
insatiable  metropolis.  Examine  modern  history.  Who 
was  not  disgusted  when  the  Parliament  of  London  de- 
clared war  on  China  because  her  Emperor  forbade  to  his 
subjects  the  use  of  the  opium  that  was  killing  them, 
action  which  was  taken  because  the  edict  diminished  a 
trade  of  which  England  had  the  monopoly  and  the  profit. 
What  honest  heart  was  there  that  was  not  made  indig- 
nant when,  profiting  in  cowardly  fashion  by  the  superior- 


*34 


FURTHER  INDIA 


ity  of  her  arms,  England  forced  the  Chinese  Emperor  to 
revoke  his  edict,  and  so  to  sanction  the  poisoning  of  three 
hundred  millions  of  men  ? But  what  did  this  matter  to 
London  ? She  had  a few  millions  more.  I say  nothing 
to  you  of  the  role  which  the  British  Cabinet  has  played 
and  is  playing  in  Italy,  nor  of  the  insults  which  Lord 
Palmerston  lavished  upon  a white-haired  old  man ! All 
the  iniquities  of  English  policy  have  for  the  rest  been 
eloquently  denounced  by  M.  de  Montalembert  in  France 
and  by  Mr.  Brownson  of  the  United  States,  and  to  them 
I refer  you. 

“ And  this  is  the  conclusion  at  which  the  young  men 
of  whom  I spoke  to  you  just  now  have  arrived  after  an 
examination  of  a situation  which  I have  been  unable  even 
to  sketch  for  you : it  is  that  such  a country,  such  a dis- 
gusting picture  of  disorder  and  of  immorality,  such  a 
spectacle  of  all  the  miseries,  the  theatre  of  all  the  crimes 
which  afflict  and  degrade  humanity,  a country  which 
breathes  corruption  upon  the  world,  a country  whose 
Machiavellian  Government  has  lies  and  cowardice  for  its 
policy,  that  England,  in  a word,  the  infamous  melting- 
pot  in  which  the  lives  of  men  are  exploited  for  the  profit 
of  the  few,  in  which,  for  the  enrichment  of  the  two  mil- 
lions of  individuals  who  compose  the  English  aristocracy 
and  Government,  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  men 
waste  now  and  always  their  sweat  and  their  blood,  having 
only  misery,  despair,  and  corruption  for  their  bed,  living 
and  dying  like  brutes — that  this  country,  I say,  which 
presents  to  the  very  nineteenth  century  human  degrada- 
tion on  so  vast  a scale,  ought  to  be  put  under  the  ban  of 


FRANCIS  GARNIER 


l35 


the  nations  so  that  such  a monstrous  abuse  of  force  be 
made  to  cease. 

“ These  young  men  have  told  themselves  that  Europe 
will  never  be  peaceful  or  happy  while  such  a monster 
stirs  in  her  breast  and  sheds  upon  it  its  venom,  and  they 
have  devoted  themselves  to  a task,  slow,  patient,  but 
active,  the  task  of  overthrowing  her!  In  making  an  ap- 
peal to  unknown  races  and  to  the  indignation  of  man- 
kind, to  those  who  have  no  definite  end  in  view,  to  those 
whose  energy  stands  in  need  of  a stimulant,  they  have 
hoped  to  succeed.  Only  a sailor  ” — a delightfully  youthful 
and  naive  touch  this  ! — “ can  thoroughly  understand  all  the 
chances  of  success  of  the  plan  which  they  are  already  be- 
ginning to  put  into  execution. 

“ We  shall  fail  perhaps ; but  we  will  die  in  the  en- 
deavour, and  that  which  a nation  dares  not  try  to  ac- 
complish we,  at  least,  shall  have  the  glory  of  having  at- 
tempted. Mon  Dieu  ! I know  that  at  first  sight  the  en- 
terprise seems  foolish.  England,  you  will  say,  is  a Co- 
lossus. Granted,  but  her  feet  are  rotten.  Shake  her  and 
she  will  fall.  England  is  universally  execrated,  and  in 
our  day  public  opinion  makes  and  unmakes  empires. 
When  Tell  and  his  two  comrades  swore  in  the  darkness 
to  give  back  her  liberty  to  their  country,  was  not  the  en- 
terprise a folly?  We,  we  desire  to  restore  liberty  to  the 
world,  and  the  world  will  be  on  our  side,  for  it  groans 
and  laments  under  the  painful  restraint,  the  constant 
encroachments,  which  this  nest  of  pirates  and  robbers, 
having  become  powerful,  imposes  upon  it  and  makes  on 
every  occasion.” 


136 


FURTHER  INDIA 


It  is  impossible  to  imagine  a letter  such  as  this  coming 
from  the  pen  of  an  English  youngster,  and  our  insular 
self-complacency  tempts  us  to  the  inference  that  some- 
thing resembling  a subconscious  sense  of  inferiority  is 
responsible  for  this  and  for  other  similar  tirades.  There 
is  an  almost  hysterical  note  in  this  young  Cato’s  reiterated 
Delenda  est  Carthago , but  behind  the  rodomontade  is  to 
be  detected  the  man  of  ideas  and  enthusiasms,  the  man 
who  can  conceive  great  schemes,  who  is  not  to  be 
daunted  by  difficulties,  or  even  by  impossibilities,  and 
who,  not  content  with  dreaming,  is  bent  upon  immediate, 
energetic  and  decisive  action.  This  is  the  Francis  Gamier 
who,  in  his  riper  maturity,  when  the  vainglorious  follies 
of  youth  had  been  set  aside,  and  his  powers  and  views 
had  been  tested  by  experience  did  such  magnificent  work 
for  France  and  for  science  in  the  Hinterlands  of  Indo- 
China.  It  is  satisfactory,  too,  and  creditable  to  Garnier’s 
impartiality,  powers  of  observation  and  good  sense,  that 
when  at  a later  date  he  visited  the  India,  of  which  in  his 
boyhood  so  deplorable  an  account  had  reached  him,  he 
puts  aside  his  preconceived  prejudices  and  writes  as  fol- 
lows of  the  British  administration  of  Hindustan. 

“ Thanks  to  the  genius  of  Dupleix,  the  French  were 
able  to  dream  for  a season  of  gaining  supremacy  over  all 
this  vast  and  rich  peninsula.  But  a more  persevering 
and  more  fortunate  nation  has  reaped  what  they  sowed. 
England  has  at  last  succeeded  in  founding  from  Cape 
Comorin  to  the  Himalayas  a flourishing  empire  of  two 
hundred  millions  of  men.  Taught  by  the  hard  lessons 
of  a costly  experience,  she  has  seriously  undertaken  to 


FRANCIS  GARNIER 


137 


reconcile  the  elder  branch  of  our  race  with  its  younger 
European  branch.  Purely  mercantile  preoccupations 
have  given  place  to  speculations  of  a more  elevated  de- 
scription. To  material  has  succeeded  moral  conquest 
which,  marching  with  the  torch  of  science  in  hand, 
strives  to  destroy  prejudices,  to  dissipate  misunderstand- 
ings, and  invites  the  vanquished  to  enjoy  all  the  advantages 
of  a generous  civilisation.  One  cannot  but  admire  the 
magnificent  ensemble  of  researches  and  of  deeds  which  have 
adorned  the  efforts  of  English  colonisation.  Conquests 
thus  justified  are  a benefit  to  those  who  submit  to  them 
and  to  all  mankind.  They  are  the  only  conquests  of  the 
kind  which  our  era  has  witnessed.” 

In  this  passage  we  have  again  the  enthusiasm,  the  love 
of  that  which  is  good  which  always  distinguished  Francis 
Gamier,  and  those  of  us  who  know  the  East  must  admit 
that  once  more  his  fiery  imagination  and  his  inclination 
to  indulge  in  dreams  caused  him  to  do  our  countrymen 
something  more,  as  he  had  formerly  done  them  some- 
what less,  than  justice.  If  England’s  main  task  be  that 
of  reconciling  the  peoples  of  the  East  with  those  of  the 
West  it  may  be  questioned  whether  she  has  accomplished 
much  more  than  a magnificent  and  generous  failure.  We 
do  not  like  Francis  Gamier  any  the  worse,  however,  be- 
cause when  he  became  a convert  to  admiration  of 
England  his  impulsive  and  enthusiastic  nature  carried 
him  somewhat  beyond  the  prosaic  facts  and  betrayed  him 
into  some  exaggeration.  Nor  can  we  avoid  being  flat- 
tered when  at  a later  date  we  find  this  whilom  Anglo- 
phobe,  who  by  a thousand  proofs  showed  himself  a 


!38 


FURTHER  INDIA 


patriotic,  loyal  and  loving  son  of  France,  marrying  an 
English  wife,  and  once  in  the  bitterness  of  his  soul,  echo- 
ing unconsciously  the  sentiment  of  the  great  Voltaire, 
“ What  a misfortune  it  is  that  I was  not  born  an  English- 
man ! With  them  I should  have  been  a man  at  once 
powerful  and  honoured ! As  bad  luck  will  have  it,  how- 
ever, I cannot  make  up  my  mind  to  be  no  longer  a 
Frenchman ! ” 

Such  was  the  man  the  story  of  whose  explorations  in 
the  Indo-Chinese  peninsula  we  shall  presently  examine, 
but  before  we  pass  on  to  this  part  of  our  subject  we  must 
trace  in  as  few  words  as  possible  the  history  of  his  con- 
nection with  the  regions  with  which  his  name  was  des- 
tined to  be  so  intimately  associated. 

On  January  9th,  i860,  Gamier,  having  volunteered  for 
service  with  the  naval  expedition  then  about  to  sail  for 
China,  left  Toulon  on  board  the  Duperre,  and  on  his  out- 
ward voyage  earned  distinction  by  an  exhibition  of  more 
than  usual  courage.  At  1 1 p.  m.,  on  May  30th,  when  the 
vessel  was  running  some  five  knots  an  hour,  and  the  night 
was  very  dark,  the  cry  was  raised  that  a man  had  fallen 
overboard.  Gamier  instantly  threw  himself  into  the  sea, 
seized  the  life-buoy  which  was  cast  after  him,  swam  with 
it  to  the  drowning  sailor,  and  succeeded  in  supporting 
him  until  a boat  lowered  from  the  ship  had  the  good  luck 
to  find  him  and  the  man  whom  he  had  saved.  An  act  of 
this  kind,  which  draws  its  inspiration  from  no  feeling  of 
personal  devotion  or  affection  for  the  man  for  whom  the 
terrible  risk  is  run,  which  is  not  born  of  the  intoxication 
of  battle,  which  can  draw  no  stimulus  from  the  plaudits 


FRANCIS  GARNIER 


139 


of  spectators,  argues  the  possession  of  a resolution,  an  un- 
selfish and  steady  bravery,  such  as  is  found  only  in  very 
exceptional  men,  and  all  will  agree  that  Gamier  richly 
deserved  the  promotion  to  the  rank  of  ensign  which  was 
immediately  given  to  him  as  a reward  of  his  valour. 
This  was  his  first  opportunity  for  making  his  merit 
known,  and  he  had  seized  it  in  a noble  fashion.  Vice- 
Admiral  Charnier  at  once  attached  him  to  his  Staff,  upon 
which  he  served  during  the  whole  of  the  war  with  China. 

In  October,  i860,  the  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  in 
Peking,  and  the  French  Government  was  able  at  last  to 
turn  its  attention  towards  Saigon.  This  place  had  been 
captured  by  a joint  Franco-Spanish  expedition  in  Febru- 
ary, 1859,  as  also  had  the  harbour  of  Turon,  but  owing  to 
the  inadequate  force  at  the  disposal  of  the  authorities  dur- 
ing the  war  with  China,  the  latter  had  to  be  abandoned  in 
March,  i860,  and  the  retreat  at  once  inspired  the  natives 
of  Cochin-China  with  the  hope  that  they  might  succeed  in 
dislodging  the  French.  The  Emperor  issued  a proclama- 
tion in  which  he  said  : 

“ Behold  they  have  departed,  these  noxious  and  greedy 
beings  who  have  no  inspiration  save  evil,  no  aim  save 
sordid  gain  ! They  have  departed,  these  pirates  who  de- 
vour human  flesh,  and  who  fashion  garments  from  the 
skins  of  those  whom  they  have  eaten  ! Put  to  flight  by 
our  valiant  soldiers,  they  have  shamefully  saved  them- 
selves ! ” 

Thus  encouraged,  the  forces  of  Cochin-China  beset 
Saigon,  in  overwhelming  numbers  the  city  was  then  garri- 
soned by  only  800  men,  of  whom  a fourth  were  Spaniards, 


140 


FURTHER  INDIA 


aided  by  two  corvets  and  four  despatch-boats.  In  July 
two  night-attacks  were  made,  but  the  little  force  repulsed 
them  with  considerable  slaughter,  and  after  that,  though 
Saigon  was  closely  invested,  no  attempt  to  take  it  of  any 
determined  character  was  made.  The  innate  inefficiency 
of  the  Oriental  to  which,  more  than  to  the  prowess  of  the 
white  races,  is  due  the  conquest  of  the  East  by  the  West, 
resulted,  as  it  had  so  often  resulted,  in  delay  when 
all  depended  upon  no  time  being  wasted,  in  aim- 
less manoeuvres  when  the  only  chance  of  success 
lay  in  striking  a decisive  blow.  In  the  months  dur- 
ing which  the  little  force,  completely  isolated,  and 
without  any  immediate  prospect  of  succour,  held  out  in- 
side Saigon,  the  fate  of  Cochin-China  was  sealed.  Her 
people  had  their  opportunity,  which  circumstances  com- 
bined to  render  unwontedly  favourable,  and  failing  to  take 
it  a similar  chance  of  success  never  again  presented  itself. 

In  February,  1861,  Admiral  Charnier,  upon  whose 
Staff  Francis  Gamier  was  still  serving,  arrived  at  Saigon 
with  a large  force  which  included  230  Spaniards  and  a 
corps  of  native  Christians  who  had  been  recruited  at 
Turon.  The  siege  was  raised  in  triumphant  fashion, 
more  than  a thousand  of  the  enemy  being  killed  in  an 
engagement  in  which  the  French  lost  only  twelve  men 
killed  and  2 1 3 wounded,  and  in  which  Gamier  had  the  good 
fortune  to  distinguish  himself  under  the  eyes  of  the  Ad- 
miral. He  was  present  later  at  the  taking  of  Mytho,  and 
had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  real  work  of  conquest 
accomplished  before  he  returned  to  France  with  Charnier 
in  the  following  October, 


FRANCIS  GARNIER 


141 


In  France  he  devoted  himself  to  study,  chiefly  of  an 
historical,  geographical  and  scientific  character,  and  to  the 
dull  round  of  his  routine  duties.  His  recent  experiences 
had  served  only  to  whet  his  appetite  for  adventure ; the 
glamour  of  the  East  had  cast  its  spell  upon  him ; the 
mystery  of  lands  in  which  no  white  man  had  set  foot 
since  the  beginning  of  things  had  fired  his  imagination ; 
the  itch  of  travel  was  upon  him,  goading  him  to  restless- 
ness. The  reaction  of  the  enforced  inactivity  to  which  he 
was  now  condemned  irked  him,  seemed  the  veriest  bathos 
after  the  experiences  of  the  strenuous  days  in  which  he 
had  delighted.  “ I am  in  Lower  Brittany,”  he  writes  to 
M.  Perre,  “ occupied  in  drilling  marine  riflemen  for  seven 
hours  a day,  a task  which  develops  one’s  intelligence  very 
little  and  satisfies  one’s  heart  even  less  ! ” So  depressing 
was  the  life  which  he  now  was  leading  that  he  speaks,  in 
true  French  fashion,  of  the  final  setting  of  “ his  star,”  and 
seems  even  to  have  thought  of  throwing  up  the  naval 
service. 

The  young  officer,  however,  had  already  made  his 
mark,  and  when  the  conquest  of  Cochin-China  was  accom- 
plished, and  the  Treaty  of  June,  1862,  had  been  signed 
between  France  and  the  Court  of  Hue,  Gamier  was  re- 
membered, and  was  presently  appointed  inspector  of  Na- 
tive Affairs  in  the  new  colony.  By  this  Treaty  the 
Provinces  of  Bien-Hoa,  Gia-Dinh  (Saigon),  Dinh-Tuong 
(Mytho),  and  the  island  of  Kondor  were  ceded  to  France ; 
the  free  exercise  of  the  Christian  religion  by  all  who  de- 
sired to  adopt  it  was  formally  permitted  ; French  war- 
ships were  granted  access  to  the  Mekong  River,  and 


H2 


FURTHER  INDIA 


French  merchants  were  given  the  right  of  trading  upon 
its  banks.  An  indemnity  of  four  million  dollars  was  also 
paid  by  the  Emperor  of  Annam. 

Gamier  reached  Saigon  in  1863,  and  though  he  was 
still  a youth  of  barely  twenty-four  years  of  age,  he  was 
appointed  to  the  charge  of  Cholen,  a suburb  of  Saigon. 
His  post  was  now  what  we  should  call  that  of  District 
Officer,  though  he  was  more  under-staffed  than  is  usual 
with  even  our  short-handed  administrations,  and  appears 
to  have  combined  in  his  own  person  the  duties  of  half-a- 
dozen  offices.  He  paid  special  attention  to  public  works, 
and  his  rule  of  the  little  town  was  characterised  by  the 
energy,  the  enthusiasm  and  the  imagination  which  dis- 
tinguished everything  to  which  he  set  his  hand.  He 
early  perceived  that  the  country  ceded  to  France  had  no 
natural  boundaries,  and  that  an  extension  of  territory  was 
imperatively  necessary  in  the  interests  of  the  new  colony. 
This  view  he  expressed  repeatedly  both  in  his  private 
and  official  writings,  and  though  an  Annamite  embassy 
to  Paris  in  1863  all  but  succeeded  in  persuading  France 
to  relinquish  her  conquests,  Admiral  de  la  Grandiere,  the 
Governor  of  Cochin-China,  contrived  in  1867  to  obtain 
permission  to  annex  Vinh-Long,  Sadec,  Chandoc,  and 
Hatien. 

It  was  while  he  was  at  Cholen  that  the  idea  of  explor- 
ing in  detail  the  Hinterland  of  Indo-China  first  presented 
itself  to  Francis  Gamier  as  a definite  scheme.  France 
had  now  established  her  supremacy  on  the  delta  of  the 
Mekong — that  “ Captain  of  all  the  Rivers,”  as  Linschoten 
named  it, — and  to  Gamier,  the  man  of  strong  imagina- 


Doudart  de  Lagree 


FRANCIS  GARNI E R 


H3 


tion,  that  mighty  stream  flowing  out  of  the  heart  of  the 
land,  whence  no  one  precisely  knew,  was  the  propounder 
of  a tremendous  riddle.  The  fascination  of  the  Unknown, 
for  those  whom  it  has  no  power  to  awe  and  discourage, 
is  a force  greater,  perhaps,  than  aught  else,  and  Garnier’s 
was  a nature  to  which  it  made  an  appeal  more  than 
usually  vivid.  A dreamer  of  dreams  he  saw  visions  of  an 
empire  won  for  France  which  might  equal,  if  not  trans- 
cend, the  empire  which  Clive  had  wrested  from  the  hold 
of  Dupleix ; a statesman  bent  upon  developing  the  re- 
sources of  the  colonies  which  France  had  already  con- 
quered, he  thought  to  find  in  the  upper  reaches  of  the 
Mekong  a trade-route  which  should  divert  the  commerce 
of  the  Chinese  Empire  from  her  own  coast-ports  to  those 
of  French  Indo-China ; a man  of  science  who  loved 
knowledge  for  its  own  sake,  he  longed  to  learn  the  se- 
crets hidden  so  closely  since  the  beginning  by  that  un- 
trodden wilderness.  His  official  memoranda  embodied 
the  earliest  proposals  for  the  exploration  of  the  valley  of 
the  Mekong,  and  the  matter  excited  the  interests  of  the 
authorities  in  France  and  on  the  spot.  It  was  not  until 
June  1st,  1866,  that  his  representations  were  translated 
into  action,  and  then  he  was  considered  to  be  too  junior 
in  years  and  service  to  be  entrusted  with  the  chief  com- 
mand of  the  expedition  which  owed  its  inception  to  his 
energy  and  imaginative  foresight. 

The  leadership  of  the  party  was  vested  in  M.  Doudart 
de  Lagree,  a post-captain  in  the  French  navy,  who  was 
then  holding  the  important  position  of  what  we  should 
call  “ Political  Agent”  at  the  Court  of  Norodon,  King 


144 


FURTHER  INDIA 


of  Kambodia,  the  protectorate  over  whose  country  had 
been  declared  by  France  largely  as  the  result  of  the  in- 
fluence which  her  agent  had  acquired.  Gamier  occupied 
the  post  of  second  in  command,  and  to  him  was  entrusted 
the  geographical,  astronomical  and  meteorological  work 
of  the  expedition.  He  was  instructed  to  determine  the 
precise  positions  of  all  points  of  importance,  to  make  a 
map  of  the  country  traversed,  to  take  soundings  and 
ascertain  the  navigability  of  the  rivers,  to  note  the  means 
of  navigation  employed  by  the  various  native  tribes,  and 
to  compare  the  advantages  presented  by  the  river  and  the 
neighbouring  land-routes.  The  other  members  of  the 
expedition  were  M.  Thorel,  a naval  medical  officer,  who 
was  the  botanist  of  the  party ; M.  Louis  Delaporte,  a 
naval  ensign,  who  was  a clever  artist ; M.  Eugene  Joubert, 
another  medical  officer,  a geologist ; and  M.  Louis  de 
Carne,  an  officer  attached  to  the  Ministry  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  who  owed  his  selection  to  the  fact  that  he  was  re- 
lated to  the  Governor  of  Indo-China.  De  Lagree  took 
with  him  also  a sergeant  of  marines  named  Charbonnier, 
who  spoke  Siamese  and  Annamite,  a private  of  marines, 
and  two  sailors.  The  expedition  was  moreover  accom- 
panied by  a number  of  native  interpreters. 

On  June  5th,  1866,  the  little  band  of  white  men  left 
Saigon  on  the  first  organised  journey  of  exploration  ever 
made  by  Europeans  into  the  more  remote  portions  of  the 
unknown  Hinterland  of  Indo-China,  from  the  shores  of 
the  China  Sea. 


CHAPTER  VII 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  KHMER  CIVILISATION 

A DESPATCH-BOAT  had  been  sent  to  Bangkok 
by  the  Colonial  Government  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining  passports  and  a supply  of  Siamese 
money  of  which  the  expedition  would  stand  in  need 
when  it  quitted  Kambodian  territory  and  began  to  make 
its  way  through  districts  under  the  dominion  of  Siam. 
Pending  the  return  of  this  vessel,  the  main  design  of  the 
explorers — the  ascent  of  the  Mekong  to  its  source — 
could  not  be  proceeded  with,  and  De  Lagree  decided  to 
utilise  the  time  of  forced  inactivity  by  paying  a visit  to 
the  immense  ruins  of  Angkor,  the  most  remarkable  of 
the  many  relics  of  a forgotten  civilisation  which  are  to 
be  found  scattered  throughout  Kambodia,  in  the  districts 
of  Siamreap  and  Batambang  (which  had  been  wrested 
from  that  kingdom  by  Siam),  and  in  some  parts  of  the 
Laos  country.  De  Lagree,  while  serving  as  political 
officer  in  Kambodia,  had  visited  Angkor  on  more  than 
one  occasion,  and  had  taken  a scientific  interest  in  its 
monuments  and  in  the  problems  which  they  present  for 
solution.  Neither  he  nor  any  of  his  companions,  how- 
ever, can  claim  to  be  regarded  as  in  any  sense  the  dis- 
coverers of  these  ruins,  their  existence  having  first  become 
known  to  Europeans  as  early  as  1570,  as  we  shall  pres- 
ently see.  None  the  less,  the  accident  of  their  sojourn  at 

x45 


146 


FURTHER  INDIA 


Angkor  affords  us  a convenient  opportunity  of  taking  in 
this  place  a rapid  glance  at  the  ruins  themselves,  at  the 
few  facts  concerning  them  which  can  now  be  ascertained, 
and  at  the  theories,  conjectures,  and  surmises,  to  which 
they  have  given  birth. 

The  expedition  steamed  up  the  Mekong  to  Pnom 
Penh,  the  point  at  which  the  branch  of  the  great  Kam- 
bodian  lake  of  Tonli-Sap  falls  into  the  river  on  its  right 
bank,  and  thence  up  the  whole  length  of  the  lake  to  its 
northern  extremity.  Here,  about  a couple  of  miles  in- 
land, standing  isolated  in  the  centre  of  a plain,  is  a small 
hill  crowned  by  two  peaks,  the  higher  of  which  is 
covered  by  a grove.  Within  this  are  the  ruins  of  an  ancient 
temple — the  Pagoda  of  Mount  Krom — overgrown,  al- 
most hidden  by  vegetation,  but  displaying  to  the  eye  of 
the  astonished  traveller  its  graceful  towers,  its  wealth 
of  sculpture,  its  bas-reliefs  and  its  gigantic  stone  fig- 
ures, intact  or  pitifully  broken  and  defaced.  It  is  a 
wonderful  sensation — as  all  who  have  experienced  it  bear 
witness — to  come  thus  suddenly,  without  the  smallest 
preparation,  after  travelling  for  weeks  through  a wilder- 
ness of  forest  broken  by  nothing  more  imposing  than  a 
cluster  of  thatched  huts,  upon  this  beautiful  work  of  art, 
whereof  the  graceful  lines,  the  slender  domes  and  arches, 
the  delicate  detail  of  the  carving,  all  attest  the  high  culture 
and  civilisation  of  the  men  who  wrought  so  greatly. 

A few  miles  further  on,  between  Mount  Krom  and 
Angkor,  lies  the  modern  town  of  Siamreap,  an  unsightly 
collection  of  hovels  dominated  by  the  stone  fort  occupied 
at  the  time  of  Garnier’s  visit  by  the  Siamese  Governor  of 


From  Thomson’s  "Antiquities  of  Kambodia" 


KHMER  CIVILISATION  147 


the  province  and  his  body-guard.  Leaving  this  place  be- 
hind him  the  traveller  passes  once  more  into  the  forest, 
and  then,  again  without  a moment’s  warning,  comes  face 
to  face  with  the  magnificent  temple  of  Angkor  Wat. 
The  force  of  the  contrast  between  the  apparently  prime- 
val forest  and  this  finished  work  of  man  is  tremendous 
and  dramatic.  Its  unexpectedness  and  the  isolation  of  its 
situation  give  to  the  ruined  temple  an  impressiveness 
such  as  even  its  beauty  and  its  immensity  could  not  other- 
wise claim,  yet  these  are  in  themselves  sufficient  to 
fire  the  most  languid  imagination.  “ Its  endless  stair- 
cases and  galleries,”  writes  Gamier,  “ its  inner  courts  and 
colonnades  of  an  uniform  aspect  appeared  to  me,  in  spite  of 
their  symmetry,  or  rather  because  of  their  very  symmetry, 
to  form  an  inextricable  labyrinth.  The  enormous  pro- 
portions of  each  part  of  this  great  entity  prevented  one 
from  taking  in  the  whole.  ...  It  required  some 
time  to  appreciate  the  exact  disposition  of  an  edifice 
which  measures,  within  ditches,  five  and  a half  kilometres 
(over  three  miles)  in  circumference.” 

This  immense  building  is  constructed  of  sandstone 
brought  from  quarries  distant  some  twenty-five  miles. 
Some  of  the  blocks  are  of  great  size,  weighing  more  than 
eight  tons,  and  though  no  cement  was  used,  they  are 
fitted  together  with  so  nice  an  accuracy  that  a line  traced 
on  a piece  of  paper  laid  over  the  junction  between  two 
stones  is  as  straight  as  though  it  had  been  ruled.  What 
were  the  mechanical  contrivances  by  means  of  which  these 
huge  blocks  of  stone  were  cut,  were  transported  to  the 
site  selected  for  the  temple,  and  were  hoisted  into  their 


148 


FURTHER  INDIA 


destined  places  in  the  building,  is  a riddle  to  which  it  is 
by  no  means  easy  to  supply  an  answer,  but  the  amount 
of  human  labour  at  the  disposal  of  the  architects  must 
have  been  enormous,  and  the  civilisation  which  could  con- 
ceive such  designs  and  could  carry  them  into  successful 
execution  must  have  attained  to  a very  high  standard. 

Even  more  astonishing  than  the  Titanic  character  of 
the  ruins  is  the  wealth  of  beautiful  detail  which  they  dis- 
play. Almost  every  individual  stone  is  curiously  carved. 
Statues  of  immense  proportions,  figures  of  Buddha,  of 
giants  and  kings,  of  lions,  dragons,  and  fabulous  monsters 
abound.  The  bas-reliefs  show  processions  of  warriors 
mounted  on  birds,  on  horses,  tigers,  elephants,  and  on 
legendary  animals,  combats  between  the  king  of  the  apes 
and  the  king  of  the  angels,  boats  filled  with  long-bearded 
rowers  some  of  them  dressed  in  the  Chinese  fashion,  cock- 
fights, women  at  play  with  their  little  ones,  soldiers  armed 
with  bows,  with  javelins,  sabres,  and  halberts,  and  in- 
numerable other  scenes.  The  men  who  wrought  these 
carvings  must  have  been  possessed  by  a veritable  passion 
for  artistic  presentment,  by  a love  of  art  for  its  own  sake 
such  as  would  seem  to  argue  a degree  of  intellectual  re- 
finement which  has  no  counterpart  among  the  peoples  of 
the  Indo-Chinese  peninsula  in  our  own  day. 

About  two  and  a half  miles  north  of  Angkor  Wat  is 
another  ruined  temple — the  Pagoda  of  Mount  Bakheng — 
standing  like  that  of  Mount  Krom  on  the  summit  of  a hill, 
the  foot  of  which  is  guarded  by  two  magnificent  stone 
lions,  each  formed  with  its  pedestal  out  of  a single  block 
of  stone.  A broken  stairway  leads  to  the  cap  of  the  hill, 


From  a photograph  by  J.  Thomson 


KHMER  CIVILISATION  149 


“ whence,”  writes  Henri  Mouhot,  “ is  to  be  enjoyed  a 
view  so  beautiful  and  extensive  that  it  is  not  surprising 
that  these  people,  who  have  shown  so  much  taste  in  their 
buildings,  should  have  chosen  it  for  a site.  On  the  one 
side  you  gaze  upon  the  wooded  plain  and  the  pyramidal 
temple  of  Ongcor,  with  its  rich  colonnades,  the  mountain 
of  Crome,  which  is  beyond  the  new  city  (Siamreap),  the 
view  losing  itself  in  the  waters  of  the  great  lake  on  the 
horizon.  On  the  opposite  side  stretches  the  long  chain 
of  mountains  whose  quarries,  they  say,  furnished  the 
beautiful  stone  used  for  the  temples ; and  amidst  thick 
forests,  which  extend  along  the  base,  is  a pretty,  small 
lake,  which  looks  like  a blue  ribbon  on  a carpet  of  ver- 
dure. All  this  region  is  now  as  lonely  and  deserted  as 
formerly  it  must  have  been  full  of  life  and  cheerfulness ; 
and  the  howling  of  wild  animals  and  the  cries  of  a few 
birds,  alone  disturb  the  solitude.” 

The  temple  of  Mount  Bakheng  is  obviously  the  most 
ancient  of  the  Angkor  ruins,  just  as  the  great  temple  of 
Angkor  Wat  is  plainly  the  most  recent ; in  the  former 
the  idols  are  somewhat  rudely  fashioned,  and  would  seem 
to  belong  to  a period  when  the  art  of  the  Khmers  was  in 
its  infancy  and  had  not  yet  attained  to  the  delicacy  and 
precision  of  a later  age. 

All  the  buildings  hitherto  mentioned  were  designed 
only  as  places  of  worship,  and  as  such  bear  unmistakeable 
testimony  to  the  religious  enthusiasm  which  animated  the 
people  who  fashioned  and  conceived  them.  Half  a mile 
beyond  Bakheng,  however,  ruins  of  a wholly  different 
character  are  met  with.  Here,  though  temples  are  not 


150 


FURTHER  INDIA 


lacking,  most  of  the  edifices  were  built  for  the  accommo- 
dation or  the  protection  of  man,  for  this  is  Angkor  Thom 
— Great  Angkor — once  the  capital  of  a mighty  empire. 
“ The  outer  wall,”  says  Mouhot,  “ is  composed  of  blocks 
of  ferruginous  stone,  and  extends  right  and  left  from  the 
entrance.  It  is  about  twenty-four  miles  square  (sic),  three 
metres  eighty  centimetres  thick,  and  seven  metres  high, 
and  serves  as  a support  to  a glacis  which  rises  almost 
from  the  top.”  An  ancient  road,  in  which,  though  it  is 
partly  obliterated,  the  ruts  ploughed  by  the  heavy  traffic 
of  a bygone  age  are  still  descernible,  leads  to  the  main 
entrance  across  a wide  ditch  full  of  the  debris  of  broken 
columns,  portions  of  carved  lions  and  elephants,  and  fallen 
blocks  of  stone.  The  portal  is  an  arch  some  sixty  feet  in 
height  surmounted  by  four  immense  heads,  described  by 
Mouhot  as  being  “ in  the  Egyptian  style,”  these  and  the 
whole  building  being  constructed  of  sandstone.  At  each 
of  the  four  corners  of  the  great  rectangular  city  there  is 
another  gate,  and  there  is  a sixth  on  the  east  side. 
Within  the  vast  enclosure  formed  by  the  walls  the  forest 
riots  wantonly — an  inextricable  tangle  of  grey-black 
trunks  and  spreading  branches,  of  striving  saplings,  dense 
underwood,  twining  creepers  and  hanging  curtains  of 
parasitic  growths,  such  as  only  the  warm  moist  earth  can 
produce  in  these  prolific  tropical  lands.  Hidden  under 
this  splendid  pall  of  verdure,  reverently  concealed  beneath 
God’s  green  coverlet,  lies  the  city  of  the  dead.  Here  are 
pagodas,  now  the  lairs  of  forest  creatures,  in  which  men 
of  a forgotten  generation  put  up  their  prayer  or  plaint, 
houses  in  which  they  were  born,  in  which  they  lived  and 


KHMER  CIVILISATION  151 


planned  and  loved  and  laboured  and  quarrelled  and  suf- 
fered and  died,  the  great  store-treasuries  which  held  the 
wealth  of  an  empire,  the  gorgeous  palaces  within  which 
dwelt  kings  and  the  fathers  of  kings. 


“ They  say  the  Lion  and  the  Lizard  keep 
The  Courts  where  Jamshyd  gloried  and  drank  deep : 
And  Bahram,  that  great  Hunter — the  Wild  Ass 
Stamps  o’er  his  Head,  but  cannot  break  his  Sleep.” 


The  romance,  the  wonder  of  the  lost  story  of  this  once 
great  city, — of  the  lives  of  the  men  and  women  who 
dwelt  in  it, — of  the  hopes  and  the  ambitions,  the  passions 
and  the  desires,  the  joys  and  the  sorrows,  of  the  thousand 
trivial,  but  to  them  all-important,  happenings  which  made 
up  their  myriad  individual  lives,  even  more  than  the 
thought  of  the  great  catastrophe  which  must  have  brought 
destruction  upon  them,  grips  you  here  “ at  the  quiet 
limits  of  the  world,”  as  you  look  upon  the  traces  they 
have  left  behind  them — the  silent  stones,  wrought  with 
such  love  and  labour,  mouldering  under  the  calm  dome 
of  the  slumbering  forest.  With  eager  curiosity  you 
grope  amid  the  lumber  of  the  centuries,  seeking  some  hint 
that  shall  have  the  power  to  breathe  the  spark  of  life  into 
this  buried  skeleton  of  majesty ; but  when  you  have 
learned  all  that  is  at  present  known  the  enigma  remains 
unsolved,  and  the  conclusions  indicated  are  of  a character 
little  calculated  to  satisfy  the  judgment  of  those  who 
know  Asia  only  at  second-hand. 

The  earliest  known  record  of  Angkor  is  found  in  the 
work  of  an  anonymous  Chinese  diplomat,  who  in  1 295 


152 


FURTHER  INDIA 


was  ordered  by  the  Emperor  of  China  to  proceed  to  the 
kingdom  of  Chin-La,  the  name  by  which  Kambodia  was 
then  known.  His  book  has  been  translated  by  M.  Abel- 
Remusat,  in  whose  Nouveaux  Melanges  Asiatiques  it  oc- 
cupied a prominent  place.  The  author  tells  us  that  he 
was  entrusted  with  the  duty  of  promulgating  certain  or- 
ders of  his  Emperor  (Kublai  Kaan)  in  Kambodia,  over 
which  State  China  exercised  something  in  the  nature  of 
suzerainty ; that  he  left  Ming-Cheu  in  the  second  month 
of  the  year  following  the  reception  by  him  of  the  imperial 
instructions — that  is  to  say  in  1296 — travelled  thence  to 
the  port  of  Wen-Chu,  whence  he  put  out  to  sea  on  the 
20th  day  of  the  same  month.  On  the  15th  day  of 
the  third  moon — namely  twenty-five  days  later — he  ar- 
rived off  the  coast  of  Cochin-China,  but  he  relates  that  he 
then  encountered  such  adverse  winds  that  he  did  not 
succeed  in  reaching  his  destination  until  the  seventh 
moon.  He  returned  to  China,  once  more  travelling  by 
sea,  in  1297.  It  is  worthy  of  notice,  in  view  of  the  hopes 
so  persistently  entertained  by  the  French  administration 
of  Indo-China  of  tapping  the  trade  of  the  Celestial  Em- 
pire by  means  of  the  Mekong,  the  Red  River,  or  some 
other  inland  route,  that  even  when  Kambodia  was  a 
flourishing  and  highly  civilised  kingdom,  communication 
between  it  and  China  was  maintained  by  sea,  and  not  via 
the  Provinces  of  Yun-nan  or  Kwang-si. 

The  Chinese  ambassador  next  gives  us  a detailed  ac- 
count of  the  capital  of  Kambodia,  in  which  mention  is 
made  of  the  rectangular  shape  of  the  town,  the  high 
wall  by  which  it  is  encompassed,  the  two  gates  on  the 


KHMER  CIVILISATION  153 


eastern  face,  and  the  great  Causeway  of  Giants  which 
leads  to  the  western  entrance,  and  which,  even  in  ruins, 
is  so  remarkable  a feature  of  Angkor.  He  also  mentions 
particularly  a temple  without  the  walls,  which  even  then 
was  accounted  very  ancient,  and  which  according  to  the 
legend  current  in  his  day  was  built  by  one  Lu-pan  in  the 
space  of  a single  night.  This  would  appear  to  be  the 
pagoda  of  Mount  Bakheng.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Chinese  author  speaks  of  two  lakes,  one  on  the  east  of 
the  town  about  ioo  li  in  circumference,  and  another,  the 
dimensions  of  which  are  not  given,  some  five  li  to  the 
north.  Only  one  such  lake  is  now  in  existence,  and  this 
is  not  easily  to  be  identified  with  either  of  those  men- 
tioned by  the  ambassador  from  China.  Angkor  Wat, 
the  immense  temple  which  from  internal  evidence  is 
proved  to  be  the  most  recent  of  the  Angkor  ruins,  is  not 
spoken  of,  and  we  are  therefore  driven  to  conclude  either 
that  it  had  not  been  built  by  the  year  1 296,  or  that  a de- 
scription of  it  was  omitted  by  accident,  or,  as  has  been 
suggested,  that  the  Kambodian  capital  described  in  the 
Chinese  manuscript  is  some  place  other  than  Angkor. 
Before  entering  into  a discussion  of  this  point,  however, 
it  will  be  more  convenient  in  the  first  instance  to  un- 
dertake an  examination  of  the  references  to  the  ruins 
which  occur  after  the  invasion  of  the  East  by  the  peoples 
of  Europe. 

The  discovery  of  the  ruins  of  Angkor  is  stated  by 
Christoval  de  Jaque,  who  in  a book  published  in  1606 
gives  an  account  of  travels  in  Indo-China  undertaken  by 
him  between  1592  and  1598,  to  have  been  made  in  1570. 


154 


FURTHER  INDIA 


“ It  is  surrounded,”  he  says,  “ by  a strong  wall  which  is 
four  leagues  in  circumference,  of  which  the  battlements 
are  carved  with  great  care,”  and  he  gives  to  this  place 
the  name  of  Anjog,  which  would  seem  to  be  sufficient  to 
identify  it  with  Angkor  even  if  he  did  not  also  furnish 
recognisable  descriptions  of  the  Causeway  of  the  Giants 
and  other  remarkable  features  of  the  ruins.  He  states 
too — a fact  which  deserves  special  attention — that  even 
in  1570  many  of  the  inscriptions  at  Anjog  were  written 
in  a tongue  which  none  of  the  natives  understood  or 
could  interpret. 

In  his  History  of  the  Islands  of  the  Archipelago,  pub- 
lished five  years  before  de  Jaque’s  work,  Ribadeneyra 
also  notices  these  ruins.  He  says,  “ There  are  in  Cam- 
bodia the  ruins  of  an  ancient  city,  which  some  say  was 
constructed  by  the  Romans  or  by  Alexander  the  Great. 
It  is  a marvellous  fact  that  none  of  the  natives  can  live  in 
these  ruins,  which  are  the  resort  of  wild  beasts.  These 
Gentiles  have  a tradition  that  the  ruins  will  some  day  be 
restored  by  a foreign  nation.” 

In  1672  there  occurs  another  mention  of  Angkor  in 
the  work  of  a French  missionary  named  Pere  Chevruel. 
“ There  is  an  ancient  and  very  celebrated  temple,”  he 
says,  “ situated  at  a distance  of  eight  days  from  the  place 
where  I live.  This  temple  is  called  Onco,  and  it  is  as 
famous  among  the  Gentiles  as  St.  Peter’s  at  Rome ; ” and 
he  adds  that  in  his  time  pilgrimages  were  made  to  it  from 
Siam,  Pegu,  Laos  and  Tenasserim. 

From  these  accounts  of  Angkor  it  will  be  seen  that 
when  the  place  was  first  discovered  by  Europeans  in  1570 


KHMER  CIVILISATION  155 


it  was  as  ruined,  as  deserted,  as  much  given  over  to  the 
forest  and  the  beasts  of  the  jungle,  as  completely  a mon- 
ument of  a prehistoric  past,  as  it  is  in  our  own  day.  If 
then  we  are  to  accept  the  work  of  the  anonymous  Chinese 
official  as  an  authentic  account  of  Angkor  Thom  at  the 
end  of  the  thirteenth  century,  we  must  ask  ourselves  to 
believe  that  this  mighty  civilisation,  whereof  its  mag- 
nificent architecture  was  the  ripened  fruit,  not  only  de- 
clined and  perished,  but  passed  into  oblivion  all  within  a 
space  of  less  than  280  years.  Nay,  more  than  this  : for  if 
the  omission  of  any  description  of  the  temple  of  Angkor 
Wat  from  the  account  given  in  the  Chinese  manuscript  is 
to  be  taken  as  evidence  that  that  splendid  edifice,  which 
was  of  a kind  little  likely  to  escape  attention,  had  not 
yet  been  built  at  the  time  of  the  ambassador’s  visit,  we 
must  believe  that  the  Khmer  civilisation  reached  its  point 
of  culmination  at  some  period  in  the  fourteenth  century 
at  the  earliest,  and  nevertheless  was  thereafter  obliterated 
so  effectually  that  in  less  than  200  years  it  had  left  behind 
it  hardly  so  much  as  a tradition. 

Apart  from  the  more  obvious  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
accepting  any  such  supposition,  the  inscriptions  found  on 
many  of  the  monuments  of  Angkor  present  an  additional 
obstacle  to  the  adoption  of  this  conclusion.  These  in- 
scriptions are  of  two  kinds,  the  one  written  in  a character 
similar  to  that  now  in  use  among  the  Kambodians, 
the  other  in  a strange,  and  as  it  is  thought,  an  older 
character  which  is  unintelligible  to  even  the  most  learned 
natives  of  the  country.  The  former  can  be  deciphered 
with  little  difficulty  by  the  Buddhist  monks,  but  un- 


i56 


FURTHER  INDIA 


fortunately  the  inscriptions  of  this  class  are  devoid  of 
historical  interest  or  importance,  being  chiefly  religious 
formulae,  prayers,  invocations,  and  the  like.  The  remain- 
ing inscriptions  have  of  late  years  been  studied  by  a 
number  of  learned  Frenchmen,  but,  so  far  as  can  be 
judged  from  the  published  results,  they  have  not  yet 
served  to  throw  much  new  light  upon  the  lost  history  of  the 
Khmer  empire.  It  is  deserving  of  attention,  however, 
that  both  kinds  of  inscription  are  found  on  the  walls  of 
Angkor  Wat,  although  that  temple  is  admittedly  the 
most  recent  of  all  the  buildings  at  Angkor.  At  the  first 
glance  this  would  seem  to  indicate  that  even  the  least 
ancient  of  the  Khmer  ruins  was  built  in  an  age  of  great 
antiquity  when  a language,  now  forgotten,  was  in  use. 
This  conclusion,  however,  is  open  to  question,  for  in  the 
East  from  time  immemorial  the  various  priesthoods  of 
Asia  have  always  favoured  the  adoption  of  some  ancient 
tongue  as  the  special  language  of  religion — usually  some 
language  which  was  not  generally  understood  by  the 
people.  India  alone  gives  three  notable  instances  of  this, 
while  the  Kawi  was  the  religious  language  of  Hindu  Java, 
just  as  Latin  is  the  language  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  and  Arabic  that  of  the  Muhammadan  faith.  It 
is  at  any  rate  possible,  therefore,  that  the  inscriptions 
written  in  the  older  character  were  never  legible  by  the 
commonalty  in  Kambodia,  their  interpretation  being  the 
exclusive  privilege  of  the  priesthood,  and  if  this  were  so, 
it  would  account  for  the  presence  of  the  unknown  char- 
acters carved  upon  the  stones  of  even  the  most  recent  of 
the  ruins.  The  presence  of  both  characters,  however,  is 


KHMER  CIVILISATION  157 


a puzzle,  for  it  would  seem  to  imply  the  existence  of  two  dis- 
tinct epochs — the  first  during  which  the  ancient  character 
was  used,  and  the  second  when  the  more  modern  form  of 
writing  was  in  vogue — and  this  would  relegate  even  Ang- 
kor Wat  to  a period  of  very  remote  antiquity.  In  these 
circumstances,  the  finding  of  a satisfactory  explanation 
which  might  account  for  the  failure  of  the  author  of  the 
Chinese  manuscript  to  mention  the  great  temple,  becomes 
even  more  difficult,  and  many  have  concluded  that  the 
town  therein  described  must  have  been  some  other  city  of 
Kambodia  and  not  Angkor  Thom  at  all. 

Although  M.  De  Lagree  himself  was  of  this  latter 
opinion,  a careful  examination  of  the  account  of  the 
Chinese  ambassador  yields  evidence  which  seems  to  me  to 
be  conclusive  that  Angkor  Thom  and  no  other  place  was 
referred  to  by  him.  The  details  concerning  the  shape  of 
the  town,  its  size,  and  the  number  and  position  of  its  gates  ; 
the  minute  description  of  the  Causeway  of  the  Giants 
leading  to  it,  and  of  a temple  without  the  walls  correspond- 
ing to  Bakheng ; the  legend  which  he  relates  of  the 
nine-headed  serpent,  the  “ patron  spirit,”  as  it  were,  of 
the  kings  of  Kambodia,  whose  effigy  in  stone  is  still  in 
existence ; — these  and  many  other  things  all  apply  per- 
fectly to  Angkor,  and  are  inapplicable  to  any  other 
known  ruins  in  Indo-China.  The  reason  why  Angkor 
Wat  escaped  mention  is,  and  must  remain  a mystery,  but 
this  omission  is  at  the  best  only  negative  evidence  of  its 
non-existence  at  that  period,  and  all  the  indications 
would  seem  to  prove  it  clearly  to  have  belonged  to  a 
much  earlier  age  than  the  thirteenth  century. 


,58 


FURTHER  INDIA 


I am  inclined,  therefore,  to  conclude  that  the  capital  of 
Chin-La  described  by  the  Chinese  diplomat  is  indeed  no 
other  than  Angkor  Thom,  but  I conceive  that  the  em- 
pire to  which  it  belonged,  though  still  flourishing,  was 
even  then  in  its  decadance.  The  Chinese  author  does  not 
speak  of  any  great  works  having  been  in  course  of  con- 
struction at  the  time  of  his  visit,  and  the  fact  that  even 
some  of  the  older  buildings  show  signs  of  never  having 
been  quite  finished  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the 
artistic  zeal  and  skill,  which  in  the  past  had  accomplished 
so  much,  had  declined  before  ever  Angkor  Thom  was 
deserted  by  its  inhabitants.  Furthermore,  at  a very  early 
period  of  our  era,  Kambodia,  as  we  learn  from  the 
Chinese  Annals,  had  become  subservient  to  China,  and 
this  alone  would  suffice  to  show  that  the  Khmer  empire 
was  even  then  a decaying  power.  Buildings  of  such  a 
character  as  those  of  Angkor  must  have  been  the  work 
of  dynasties  who  ruled  supreme  over  a populous  king- 
dom, who  could  command  an  almost  infinite  amount  of 
human  labour,  and  who  were  so  free  from  menace  from 
without  that  they  could  devote  all  the  energy  of  their  sub- 
jects to  the  construction  of  gigantic  public  works  instead  of 
to  fruitless  war.  No  such  edifices  ever  yet  were  conceived 
or  executed  by  kings  who  occupied  the  position  of  mere 
vassals,  or  who  had  aught  to  fear  from  imminent  in- 
vasion. 

If  then  by  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  Angkor 
was  still  great,  still  inhabited,  but  none  the  less  was  tot- 
tering to  its  fall,  all  we  have  to  suppose  is  that  events 


KHMER  CIVILISATION  159 


occurred  which  hastened  the  catastrophe  and  accelerated 
the  process  of  decay,  and  here  we  seem  to  find  a hint  in 
the  Chinese  manuscript  of  what  may  have  been  the  na- 
ture of  the  calamity  which  precipitated  the  abandonment 
of  the  royal  city.  The  ambassador,  as  already  stated, 
makes  mention  of  lakes  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Angkor 
which  are  no  longer  to  be  located  in  the  directions  indi- 
cated by  him,  while  another  lake  appears  to  have  come 
into  being  since  his  time.  A change  such  as  this  wrought 
in  the  natural  configuration  of  the  surrounding  country 
could  only  be  the  result  of  seismic  convulsions,  and  such 
an  explanation  would  also  account  for  the  battered  con- 
dition of  many  of  the  buildings  and  the  very  general  di- 
lapidation of  the  roofs.  It  is  noticeable,  too,  that  no 
human  remains  are  found  in  large  numbers  in  the  houses 
of  Angkor  Thom,  as  would  be  the  case  in  all  probability  if 
the  town  had  been  abandoned  on  account  of  plague  or 
pestilence,  and  it  would  seem  to  be  more  likely  that  the 
evacuation  was  due  to  sudden  panic.  When  we  re- 
member the  innately  superstitious  character  of  these  Ori- 
ental races,  it  is  not  difficult  to  conceive  of  the  conviction 
that  might  have  been  bred  in  them  by  a succession  of 
slight  earthquake-shocks  that  it  was  the  will  of  the  gods 
that  their  ancient  home  should  be  deserted,  and  if  once 
such  a belief  spread  among  the  populace  of  an  Asiatic 
city,  nothing  could  save  it  from  abandonment.  The  faith 
of  the  Oriental,  which,  not  content  with  believing  in  the 
languid  European  fashion,  has  a wonderful  power  of  real- 
ising as  an  actual  fact  the  thing  proposed  for  its  belief, 
would  in  such  an  event  prove  strong  enough  to  overcome 


i6o 


FURTHER  INDIA 


all  attachment  to  home,  all  love  of  things  ancient  and 
sacred,  all  personal  and  private  interests,  all  respect  for 
the  value  of  property.  The  will  of  the  gods,  once  plainly 
indicated,  once  grasped,  would  be  obeyed  no  matter  what 
the  sacrifice  demanded  by  obedience,  and  something  of 
this  kind,  I conceive,  must  be  held  to  account  for  the 
abandonment  of  the  noble  edifices  of  Angkor  to  the 
encroaching  jungle  and  to  the  wild  creatures  of  the 
forest. 

Picture  then  a population  driven  suddenly  forth  into  the 
wilderness,  as  were  the  Children  of  Israel,  but  unlike  them 
with  no  Moses  for  their  leader  and  lawgiver.  As  I have 
already  indicated,  it  is  probable  that  before  the  exodus 
occurred  the  numbers  of  the  race  had  diminished,  while  its 
arts  had  languished  or  had  been  lost,  as  so  many  wonderful 
arts  have  been  lost  completely  in  Asiatic  lands.  The  kings 
would  have  lacked  the  men,  the  means  and  the  resources 
wherewith  to  create  new  cities  to  rival  their  deserted  cap- 
ital. Stonework,  such  as  had  been  fashioned  in  ancient 
times  by  thousands  of  toiling  men,  would  be  altogether 
beyond  their  reach,  and  the  limitless  jungle  spreading 
around  them  would  yield  timber  and  palm-leaves  for 
roofing  at  the  cost  of  little  labour.  It  would  naturally 
follow  that  the  exiles  would  easily  content  themselves 
with  the  more  modest  accommodation  at  their  immediate 
disposal,  and  that  the  sons  of  the  men  who  had  lived  in 
royal  Angkor  would  speedily  resign  themselves  to  the 
thatched  huts  of  the  modern  Kambodians.  The  fact  that 
they  were  already  a rapidly  decaying  people  would  make 
the  decline  more  fatally  easy.  They  would  have  in  them 


KHMER  CIVILISATION  161 


no  power  of  rebound,  and  the  blow  which  would  have 
been  dealt  to  their  national  importance  and  prosperity  by 
the  abandonment  of  their  cities  would  be  one  from  which 
they  had  not  enough  of  energy  to  recover. 

For  the  rest  the  legend  of  their  former  greatness  would 
very  soon  pass  into  a mere  myth.  The  Malay  hero, 
Hang  Tuah,  who  as  chief  of  the  fleets  of  Malacca  fought 
against  the  Portuguese,  both  at  the  time  of  the  taking  of 
that  city  and  for  many  years  after  it  had  passed  into  the 
keeping  of  the  white  men,  is  to-day,  and  has  been  for  the 
past  two  hundred  years,  a figure  as  fabulous  in  the  popu- 
lar imagination  as  Hercules  or  Agamemnon.  Around 
him  has  been  woven  a maze  of  marvellous  story  and 
miraculous  tradition  ; it  is,  as  Crawfurd  has  remarked, 
much  as  though  our  own  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  had  become 
by  the  eighteenth  century  a solar-myth.  Things  such  as 
this  are  constantly  happening  in  the  East,  where  the 
power  of  faith  is  stupendous,  where  the  imagination  is 
strong,  where  people  have  a natural  leaning  towards  the 
marvellous,  and  where  the  unlettered  populace  know 
nothing  of  written  history.  To  me  it  seems  in  no  wise 
strange  that  in  a matter  of  something  over  two  centuries 
the  Kambodians  should  believe  that  Angkor  was  fash- 
ioned from  potters’  clay  by  the  god  Prea  En,  or  should  give 
credit  to  any  other  fabulous  legend  concerning  the  origin 
of  buildings  which  in  their  present  degenerate  state  these 
people  are  unable  even  to  conceive  the  possibility  of  de- 
signing or  executing. 

As  regards  the  encroachment  of  the  forest,  that,  I think, 
need  occasion  no  surprise.  I have  myself  seen  a ploughed 


]62 


FURTHER  INDIA 


field  in  tropical  Asia  covered  in  the  space  of  fifteen 
months  with  dense  undergrowth  twelve  feet  in  height, 
through  which  a man  could  pass  only  with  the  greatest 
difficulty,  with  the  aid  of  a stout  wood-knife.  If  Ang- 
kor after  its  desertion  was  protected  by  the  tradition, 
already  quoted  above  from  the  work  of  Ribadeneyra,  that 
the  natives  could  not  live  in  it,  two  centuries  would  be 
ample  time  for  the  forest  to  take  back  its  own,  and  this 
tradition  would  seem  to  support  the  explanation  of 
the  abandonment  of  the  city  which  I have  here  ventured 
to  put  forward. 

The  origin  of  the  Khmers  is  wrapped  in  obscurity, 
but  the  features  of  the  men  represented  in  the  ancient 
monuments,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  statue  of  the  Lep- 
rous King,  here  reproduced  from  the  work  of  M.  Mou- 
hot,  are  distinctively  Hindu.  The  type  is  found  to  this 
day  prevalent  among  Kambodians  of  pure  descent,  and  it 
presents  a very  marked  contrast  to  the  broad-faced,  flat- 
featured  Mongolian  races  of  China  and  Siam.  Kambodia 
in  our  time,  however,  is  not  peopled  by  a single  nation, 
but  rather  by  a very  heterogeneous  population.  The 
mountains  are  inhabited  for  the  most  part  by  aboriginal 
tribes  of  a very  low  standard  of  civilisation,  who  from 
time  immemorial  have  been  pillaged  and  enslaved  by 
their  more  advanced  neighbours.  The  trading  and  ener- 
getic portion  of  the  community  is  composed  almost  ex- 
clusively of  Chinese — mostly  natives  of  Fok-Kien,  for 
Kambodia  still  communicates  with  China  by  sea,  and  very 
rarely  by  the  overland  route.  Here  and  there  there  are 
colonies  of  Malays  scattered  about  the  country,  who  came 


KHMER  CIVILISATION  163 


there  no  one  precisely  knows  how,  and  the  Kambodians 
themselves  have  in  most  cases  intermarried  with  strangers 
and  so  have  lost  their  ancient  purity  of  blood.  In  Bat- 
ambang  and  Siamreap  the  Siamese  have  also  established 
a few  colonies. 

Of  the  heyday  of  the  Khmer  empire  we  have  no  record 
whatsoever,  but  we  may  safely  conclude  that  it  dates  from 
a period  prior  to  the  reduction  of  Kambodia  by  China. 
This  is  said  to  have  taken  place  under  the  Chinese  Em- 
peror Yao,  who  was  also  the  first  of  his  race  to  cause  the 
Yang-tze  valley  to  be  colonised  by  Chinese.  The 
practical  dominion  of  China  in  Kambodia  ended  with  the 
Thang  Dynasty,  which  perished  during  the  latter  half  of  the 
tenth  century  of  our  era.  One  building  at  Angkor  is  be- 
lieved to  have  been  constructed  in  the  second  century,  an 
inscription  which  has  been  deciphered  seeming  to  war- 
rant this  conclusion,  and  it  is  possible  that  some  of  the 
edifices  may  be  even  older  than  this.  A legend  is  still 
extant  of  a king  of  Kambodia  who  not  only  built  Angkor, 
but  who  also  subjugated  many  of  the  islands  of  the  Archi- 
pelago and  monopolised  for  a space  the  trade  between 
China  and  the  West.  To  him  also  are  attributed  the 
great  roads,  traces  of  which  are  still  to  be  found  in  parts 
of  the  country.  No  reliance  is  to  be  placed  upon  such 
traditions  as  these,  but  Angkor  itself  and  the  numerous 
other  ruins  are  triumphant  evidence  of  what  the  might  of 
the  Khmer  empire  must  once  have  been.  That  it  derived 
its  inspiration  direct  from  India  cannot  be  doubted — the 
character  of  the  carving,  the  features  of  the  statues,  the 
practice  by  the  Khmers  of  the  cult  of  Buddha,  all  indi- 


164 


FURTHER  INDIA 


cate  this,  while  the  appearance  of  the  Kambodians  of  our 
own  time  seems  to  confirm  the  belief  that  the  ancestors 
of  these  people  came  originally  from  the  peninsula  of 
Hindustan.  We  know  that  Hindu  influence  extended  in 
very  early  times  as  far  south  as  Lombok  and  Bali,  and  it 
is  highly  probable  that  Kambodia  may  also  have  been 
peopled  from  India  by  sea.  The  enormous  encroach- 
ments of  the  land  upon  the  ocean,  caused  by  the  immense 
amount  of  the  deposits  washed  down  by  the  Mekong, 
have  added  largely  to  the  flat  coast-lands  of  the  country 
during  historical,  as  opposed  to  geological  times,  and  a 
thousand  years  ago  Angkor  was  certainly  much  less  dis- 
tant from  the  sea  than  it  is  to-day.  None  the  less,  since 
other  seaward  States  in  its  vicinity  escaped  the  Indian  in- 
vasion, it  is  at  least  possible  that  the  Khmers  may  have 
made  their  way  into  Indo-China  overland,  as  is  contended 
by  some  French  writers,  though  the  opinion  is  one  w-hich 
it  is  not  easy  to  accept. 

To  sum  up,  all  that  we  can  really  ascertain  at  the  pres- 
ent time  concerning  the  Khmer  civilisation  is  that  it 
flourished  and  came  to  full  fruition  before  its  subjugation 
to  China ; that  the  Chinese  dominion  ended  before  the 
conclusion  of  the  tenth  century  of  our  era,  though  it  had 
a nominal  and  more  or  less  formal  existence  for  more 
than  three  centuries  later ; that  Angkor  and  the  other 
towns  of  Kambodia  were  occupied  by  the  natives  of  the 
country  well  into  the  fourteenth  century,  although  by  that 
time  the  civilisation  of  the  Khmers  had  decayed,  their  arts 
would  appear  to  have  declined,  and  the  numbers  of  their 
subjects  to  have  dwindled.  It  further  seems  probable  that 


KHMER  CIVILISATION  165 


some  time  in  the  fourteenth  century  the  ancient  buildings 
were  deserted  owing,  it  may  be  surmised,  to  a supersti- 
tious belief  that  it  was  no  longer  the  will  of  the  gods  that 
they  should  be  occupied — a superstition  which  exists  to 
the  present  day,  and  which  may  have  originated  in,  or 
have  impressed  itself  upon,  the  public  mind  by  reason  of 
one  or  more  earthquake-shocks.  We  have,  it  must  be 
confessed,  only  a slender  base  upon  which  to  build  our 
theories,  but  the  evidence  of  the  Chinese  ambassador,  so 
often  quoted  in  these  pages,  is  something  tangible  and 
concrete  which  cannot  easily  be  thrust  aside.  For  the 
rest,  I trust  that  I have  succeeded  in  showing  that  the  de- 
sertion of  Angkor  at  a period  subsequent  to  his  visit  is  at 
any  rate  a possibility,  and  that  the  condition  of  the  ruins 
at  the  present  time,  and  the  maze  of  myth  and  legend  in 
which  the  imagination  of  the  native  population  has  en- 
tangled them,  need  excite  little  surprise  when  we  remem- 
ber the  Titanic  nature  of  the  buildings  on  the  one  side, 
and  the  appeal  which  they  would  inevitably  make  to  a 
marvel-loving,  superstitious,  and  unlettered  people.  When 
all  has  been  said,  however,  the  problem  of  the  Khmer 
civilisation  remains  unsolved,  for  of  the  story  of  the  great 
empire  which  existed  before  ever  China  effected  conquests 
in  Kambodia  we  know  nothing.  Judged  by  the  gigantic 
remains  which  they  have  bequeathed  to  us, — the  expres- 
sion at  once  of  a tremendous  energy  and  of  a passion- 
ate love  of  art — the  Khmers  must  have  been  a wonderful 
people,  and  such  a people  cannot  have  failed  to  have  a 
marvellous  and  inspiring  history.  What  that  story  was 
we  know  not,  and  perhaps  shall  never  know,  but  we  must 


i66 


FURTHER  INDIA 


all  subscribe  to  Francis  Garnier’s  tribute  to  the  men  of 
this  vanished  race. 

“ Jamais  nulle  part  peut-'etre  une  masse  plus  imposante 
de  pierres  n a ete  disposee  avec  plus  d' art  et  de  science. 
Si  l' 071  adi7iire  les  py7'a7tunides  cornme  une  oeuvre  gigan- 
tesque  de  la  force  et  de  la  patie7ice  humaines,  a une  force 
et  U7ie  patieyice  egales  il  faut  ajouter  ici  le  genie  ! ” 


CHAPTER  VIII 


FROM  PNOM  PENH  TO  UBON 

IT  was  only  on  July  7,  1 866,  that  the  de  Lagree-Garnier 
expedition  at  last  began  its  ascent  of  the  Mekong 
River  from  Pnom  Penh.  A short  visit  was  paid  to 
the  pagoda  of  Pnom-Brashe,  an  ancient  Khmer  ruin  situ- 
ated opposite  to  the  Sutin  islands.  This  is  a magnificent 
temple,  in  general  appearance  not  unlike  a Gothic 
cathedral,  and  according  to  an  inscription  found  in  it,  a 
translation  of  which  was  furnished  to  the  explorers  by  a 
Buddhist  monk,  it  dates  from  the  second  century  of  our 
era.  De  Lagree,  who  found  it  impossible  to  get  over  the 
difficulty  presented  by  the  omission  from  the  manuscript 
of  the  Chinese  ambassador  of  all  mention  of  Angkor  Wat, 
thought  that  the  town  described  in  that  work  was  to  be 
looked  for  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Pnom-Brashe,  but 
there  is  little  to  be  advanced  in  favour  of  this  view,  since 
the  account  of  the  capital  of  Kambodia  as  it  was  in  the 
thirteenth  century  corresponds  in  almost  every  detail  with 
Angkor  Thom,  and  is  not  applicable  in  an  equal  degree 
to  any  other  of  the  great  Khmer  remains. 

On  July  9th,  Kratieh,  on  the  left  bank  just  below  the 
Sombor  rapids,  was  reached,  and  here  the  two  shallow- 
draft  gunboats,  in  which  the  expedition  had  so  far  been 
conveyed,  were  abandoned.  Up  to  this  time,  no  steamers 

167 


i68 


FURTHER  INDIA 


had  ascended  to  a point  so  far  from  the  coast,  and  the 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  navigation  which  had  been  en- 
countered since  leaving  Pnom  Penh  had  been  great. 
The  gear  and  supplies  of  the  explorers  were  therefore 
transferred  to  native  boats — long  crafts  fashioned  from 
tree-trunks,  warped  open  by  fire,  their  carrying  capacity 
being  increased  by  plank  sides  built  up  from  the  solid 
keels.  Each  boat  was  furnished  with  a bamboo  deck, 
supporting  a low,  thatched  cabin  amidships,  and  was 
propelled  by  a number  of  punters  armed  with  long,  iron- 
shod  poles. 

Heavy  rains  had  already  begun  to  fall  in  the  interior, 
and  the  river  was  some  sixteen  feet  above  its  normal 
level.  On  July  16th  the  first  formidable  rapids  of  the 
Sombor  flight  were  reached,  and  thus  early  in  his  journey 
Gamier  was  forced  to  resign  one  of  his  most  cherished 
dreams.  On  each  bank  of  the  great  river  rose  marvel- 
lous tangles  of  untouched  forest — giant  trees  with  but- 
tress-roots, treading  on  one  another’s  toes,  standing  knee- 
deep  in  striving  underwood,  their  branches  interlocked, 
and  bound  each  to  each  by  vine  and  creeper,  shaggy  with 
ferns  and  mosses,  draped  with  hanging  parasitic  growths, 
and  set  here  and  there  with  the  delicate  stars  of  orchids. 
Between  these  sheer  cliffs  of  vegetation  the  great  river 
rolled,  sullen  and  persistent,  its  brown  waters  sweeping 
downward  with  irresistible  force  their  freight  of  wallowing 
tree-trunks,  rushing  with  a fierce  hissing  sound  through 
the  brushwood  on  either  bank,  foaming  and  fighting 
around  the  islands  which  here  bespatter  the  surface  of 
the  stream,  and  squabbling  noisily  with  the  rough-hewn 


PNOM  PENH  TO  UBON  169 


sandstone  outcrops  which  form  at  this  point  a broken  bar 
at  right-angles  to  the  current.  Looking  at  this  wild 
scene,  Francis  Gamier,  the  lover  of  beauty  and  of  savage 
nature,  felt  that  his  eye  was  filled  with  seeing, — filled  with 
visions  of  sheer  delight;  but  Francis  Gamier  the  practical 
statesman,  the  utilitarian,  the  naval  officer,  took  small 
comfort  from  the  conclusions  which  were  now  forced 
upon  his  recognition.  No  highway  of  trade  was  to  be 
beaten  out  of  this  whirling  wilderness  of  troubled  waters. 
Within  ten  days  from  his  departure  from  Pnom  Penh  the 
hopes  which  he  had  cherished  of  discovering  in  the 
Mekong  a practicable  route,  by  means  of  which  the  trade 
of  Yun-nan  might  be  diverted  to  Indo-China,  had  been 
brought  to  nought. 

Reluctantly  and  not  without  a struggle  did  he  admit 
this  truth.  The  river  ran  in  flood  three  and  a quarter 
miles  in  width,  and  he  could  not  but  hope  against  hope 
that  in  all  that  great  expanse  some  possible  channel  for  a 
steamboat  might  be  found.  Taking  a small  canoe  with 
two  or  three  native  boatmen,  he  put  out  into  the  stream 
towards  the  right  bank,  but  before  he  was  well  within 
sight  of  the  great  rapid  of  Preatapang  his  crew  struck 
work.  They  refused  flatly  to  carry  him  beyond  an  island 
in  mid-stream,  whence  he  could  see  nothing  to  his  pur- 
pose. He  coaxed,  cajoled,  bribed,  entreated  and  finally 
had  resort  to  threats,  but  all  in  vain.  He  had  come  into 
collision  with  the  stolid,  unshakable  resolution  of  the 
Oriental  whose  mind  is  made  up,  and  storming  with  rage 
he  was  obliged  to  return  a defeated  man  to  his  jeering 
companions. 


170  FURTHER  INDIA 

Still  hugging  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  and  travelling 
for  the  most  part  through  the  submerged  forest,  where 
alone  the  punters  could  find  bottom  with  their  poles,  the 
party  crept  painfully  up-stream,  reaching  the  mouth  of 
the  Se-Kong  on  the  21st,  and  the  town  of  Stung- 
Treng,  in  Siamese  territory,  on  the  same  day. 

From  Stung-Treng,  Gamier,  who  felt  that  he  still  bore 
a grudge  to  the  rapids  of  Sombor,  set  off  down  river  to 
explore  the  right  bank  of  the  Mekong.  After  many  risks 
in  the  rapids  and  difficulties  with  his  boatmen,  Sombor 
was  reached,  and  finding  there  a boat  containing  belated 
supplies  for  the  expedition,  Gamier  got  on  board  her,  and 
after  five  laborious  days  spent  in  punting  up-stream,  re- 
joined his  comrades  at  Stung-Treng. 

Meanwhile  de  Lagree  had  utilised  his  leisure  in  explor- 
ing the  Se-Kong,  which  falls  into  the  Mekong  on  its  left 
bank  a little  below  Stung-Treng.  The  neighbourhood  of 
the  latter  place  had  also  been  examined,  and  some  cu- 
rious stone  towers,  yet  other  relics  of  the  Khmer  civilisa- 
tion, had  been  discovered.  Concerning  these  Gerard  van 
Wusthof,  the  leader  of  the  Dutch  expedition  to  Vien 
Chan  in  the  seventeenth  century,  of  which  more  will  be 
said  in  a later  chapter,  has  the  following  passage : 

“ On  August  17th,  we  passed  the  night  at  Baetzong 
(Stung-Treng)  near  a stone  church,  ruined  through  age, 
where  the  Louwen  (Laos  folk)  perform  ceremonies  and 
sacrifices.  Candles  were  burning  in  this  church  on  the 
altars  of  two  idols.  About  fifty  years  ago  the  Kings  of 
Kambodia  resided  in  this  place,  but  forced  to  retreat  be- 
fore the  incessant  attacks  of  the  Louwen,  they  left  this 


PNOM  PENH  TO  UBON  171 


church  to  itself  in  the  solitude  of  a grove,  and  descended 
to  the  spot  where  they  now  reside.” 

Similarly  in  van  Wusthof’s  time  Kambodians  occupied 
villages  in  the  upper  reaches  of  the  Se-Kong,  whereas 
long  since  the  descendants  of  the  once  dominant  race  have 
retreated  to  the  country  lying  below  the  Sombor  Falls. 
Stung-Treng  itself,  an  insignificant  place  of  less  than 
1,000  inhabitants,  is  peopled  by  Laotines,  though  here  as 
elsewhere  in  Indo-China,  what  little  trade  there  is  remains 
almost  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  ubiquitous  Chinese. 

“ Sans  l'  intervention  de  1'  element  chinois”  writes 
Gamier,  “ ces  contrees  eloignees  mourraient  bientot  a toute 
relation  exterieure ,”  and  indeed  the  same  may  be  said 
with  truth  of  every  portion  of  Indo-China  and  Malaya. 
The  Chinaman  possesses  in  a remarkable  degree  those 
very  qualities  of  diligence,  energy,  business  capacity,  per- 
severance and  thrift  which  the  men  of  these  regions  most 
singularly  lack,  and  any  plan  which  has  for  its  object  the 
placing  of  the  prosperity  of  the  peninsula  on  a sound 
economical  basis,  and  the  endowing  of  them  with  the 
blessings  of  material  prosperity,  must  include  a scheme 
for  the  free  immigration  of  the  Chinese,  under  which 
they  shall  be  granted  full  rights  of  citizenship. 

The  valley  of  the  Se-Kong  is  encompassed  by  moun- 
tains, and  the  country  between  it  and  the  main  range  bor- 
dering Cochin-China  is  inhabited  by  wild  tribes.  For  the 
rest  the  population  is  Laotine,  and  the  standard  of  civili- 
sation does  not  compare  favourably  with  that  of  the 
Kambodians,  all  trade,  for  instance,  being  still  conducted 
on  a system  of  barter. 


1?2 


FURTHER  INDIA 


De  Lagree  explored  the  Se-Kong  on  this  occasion  as 
far  as  Sien-Pang,  and  he  later  completed  the  work  using 
Bassak  as  his  pied-a-terre.  To  the  latter  place  he  now 
decided  to  push  on,  his  object  being  to  establish  a base 
from  which  to  conduct  further  explorations,  and  in  which 
he  might  fix  his  headquarters  during  the  coming  rainy 
season.  His  design  was  somewhat  delayed  by  the  severe 
illness — a malignant  form  of  fever — by  which  both  Gar- 
nier  and  Thorel  were  prostrated,  but  though  the  former 
was  still  delirious  a start  was  presently  made  from  Stung- 
Treng,  and  by  the  time  the  rapids  of  Khon  were  reached 
on  August  17th,  the  second-in-command  was  sufficiently 
recovered  to  be  able  to  take  his  usual  eager  interest  in 
all  that  was  going  on  around  him. 

Above  Stung-Treng  the  river  is  so  bespattered  with 
islands  that  it  was  rarely  possible  to  catch  a glimpse  of 
both  banks  at  the  same  time,  but  just  below  the  Khon 
Falls  the  stream  opens  out  into  a great  basin,  some  three 
and  a-half  miles  across.  The  northern  end  of  this  is  oc- 
cupied by  a compact  group  of  islands,  divided  each  from 
each  by  narrow  channels  through  which  the  river  tears 
its  way,  its  waters  being  precipitated  into  the  basin  be- 
low. In  many  of  these  channels  all  obstacles  have  been 
worn  away,  and  here  the  waters  glide  downward  in  long, 
unbroken  waves,  the  force  of  which  is  terrific.  In  the 
channels  of  Salaphe  and  Papheng,  the  two  principal  falls, 
however,  the  stream  runs  in  absolute  cascades,  the  body 
of  water  being  more  than  1,000  yards  across,  and  plung- 
ing vertically  from  a height  of  fifty  feet.  From  bank  to 
bank  the  broken  line  of  rapids,  rushing  through  the  group 


PNOM  PENH  TO  UBON  173 


of  islets,  measures  between  seven  and  eight  miles  in  width, 
while  immediately  above,  the  river  is  twelve  miles  across, 
though  a little  further  up  it  narrows  down  again  to  its 
original  breadth  of  about  three  and  a-half  miles. 

“ Everything  in  this  gigantic  country,”  wrote  Gamier, 
“ breathes  an  unheard  of  force  and  clothes  itself  in  over- 
whelming proportions.”  The  land  is  thickly  populated 
and  highly  cultivated.  The  principal  villages  are  Sit- 
andong  and  Khong,  and  with  the  Governor  of  the  lat- 
ter place  the  expedition  speedily  established  very  friendly 
relations.  For  the  rest  the  scanty  trade  consisted  in  the 
exportation  of  jungle  produce  obtained  from  the  hill- 
tribes  and  brought  to  the  river  by  means  of  a track  lead- 
ing inland  from  its  left  bank. 

The  province  of  Tuli-Repu,  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Mekong,  was  formerly  a part  of  Kambodia,  but  the  chief 
in  charge  of  it  having  rebelled  and  obtained  the  support 
of  Siam,  it  passed,  without  any  formalities  of  cession,  un- 
der the  dominion  of  Bangkok,  as  have  so  many  other 
fragments  of  the  ancient  Khmer  empire.  After  that 
event  it  became  almost  a desert,  the  mountainous  parts 
being  infested  by  lawless  bands  who  lived  chiefly  by  pil- 
lage, and  Gamier  saw  in  its  annexation  by  France  its  only 
chance  of  salvation.  This  is  an  opinion  which  has  since 
found  much  favour  with  French  colonial  statesmen,  but 
even  under  the  administration  of  France  this  part  of  the 
Mekong  valley  seems  hardly  likely  to  produce  a trade  of 
any  remarkable  proportions. 

Using  Khong  as  his  base,  de  Lagree  ascended  and  ex- 
plored the  Repu  or  Se-Lompu  River,  and  on  the  banks 


U4 


FURTHER  INDIA 


of  the  Mekong,  to  the  south  of  the  island,  he  discovered 
a few  vestiges  of  ancient  Khmer  buildings.  On  Septem- 
ber 6th  Khong  was  left  and  a start  made  for  Bassak.  The 
river,  for  the  first  time  since  Sombor,  was  found  to  flow 
in  a single  channel,  its  width  being  between  1 400  and 
1,800  yards  from  bank  to  bank.  For  the  first  time,  too, 
high  mountains  became  visible  to  the  north,  and  at  the 
end  of  the  fifth  day  the  explorers  found  themselves  be- 
ginning to  describe  a great  curve,  formed  by  the  Mekong 
as  it  skirts  the  foot  of  a high  range  of  hills.  On  Septem- 
ber nth  Bassak  was  reached,  the  whole  of  the  country 
traversed  from  Khong  to  that  place  being  densely  popu- 
lated. 

Bassak  is  situated  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Mekong, 
which  here  measures  over  a mile  and  a quarter  in  width ; 
it  lies  opposite  to  the  big  island  of  Don-Deng,  and  moun- 
tains rise  up  at  the  rear  of  the  town.  A little  to  the  north 
there  is  a plain  on  the  right  bank,  and  beyond  this  a chain 
of  mountains,  skirted  by  the  river,  runs  to  the  peak  called 
Phu  Molong.  To  the  west  is  a peak  called  Phu  Bassak, 
and  east-northeast  are  seen  the  distant  volcanic  moun- 
tains, the  most  southerly  of  which  was  subsequently 
named  Mount  de  Lagree  by  Francis  Gamier  when  death 
had  claimed  his  chief.  The  expedition  had  cause  for 
congratulation  in  the  selection  of  Bassak  as  its  head- 
quarters, for  the  climate  was  found  to  be  delightful ; the 
thermometer  registered  between  5 y°  and  6o°  F.  in  the 
early  mornings  of  January,  the  place  being,  in  fact,  far 
cooler  than  any  district  of  Kambodia,  and  even  than 
many  spots  higher  up  the  river. 


Kavine  near  the  Mekong 

From  Garnier’s  “ Voyage  en  Indo-Chine  ’ 


PNOM  PENH  TO  UBON  17 5 


The  explorers  were  now  well  into  the  Laos  country, 
and  they  were  much  struck  by  the  intelligence  and 
gentleness  of  the  natives.  Gamier  fancied  that  he  dis- 
cerned in  them  some  traces  of  that  vitality  and  mental 
energy  which  are  the  germs  of  progress,  and  for  a period 
he  cheated  himself  into  the  belief  that  they  might  have  a 
future  before  them  such  as  is  surely  denied  to  the  spent 
peoples  of  Kambodia.  The  people  of  Laos  he  says, 
“ peuvent  renaitre  a Vactivite  et  a la  richesse,  au  milieu 
des  contrees  admirables  qu'ils  habitent , sous  iinfluence 
civilisatrice  de  la  France an  opinion  which  may  or 
may  not  be  true,  but  which  has  certainly  not  yet  been 
justified  in  the  smallest  degree.  It  is  to  be  feared  that 
Gamier,  deluded  by  his  love  of  Indo-China  and  by  his  very 
natural  enthusiasm  for  the  future  of  countries  with  which 
he  had  become  so  closely  identified,  allowed  himself  to  be 
blinded  to  some  obvious  facts.  Compared  to  the  Kam- 
bodians  the  Laotines  were  doubtless  less  utterly  past  hope, 
but  the  people  of  southeastern  Asia  who  are  most  vital, 
most  alive  to-day  are,  without  question,  the  Siamese,  whose 
energy  has  been  sufficient  to  achieve  the  reduction  of  so 
many  of  their  neighbours ; yet  no  one  who  has  studied 
modern  Siam  with  any  care,  and  has  not  had  his  vision 
confused  by  personal  predilections  and  prejudices,  can 
cherish  many  illusions  concerning  the  future  that  awaits 
its  people.  As  for  the  Laotines,  such  achievement  as  was 
possible  to  their  limitations  belongs  to  the  days  of  Vien 
Chan’s  prosperity ; compared  with  that  of  Siam  or  Burma, 
leaving  entirely  on  one  side  the  great  empire  of  the 
Khmers,  it  is  a paltry  thing,  and  as  regards  their  future. 


i76 


FURTHER  INDIA 


the  very  tolerance  of  alien  creeds,  which  Gamier  found  so 
worthy  of  praise,  sets  a seal  upon  their  fate.  This  is  a 
virtue  which,  in  the  East,  never  yet  sprang  from  intel- 
lectual energy.  It  is  in  the  Oriental  a sure  sign  of  the 
apathy  of  decay.  Among  the  Kambodians,  who  have  a 
proud  past  behind  them,  fanaticism  is  the  last  vestige  of 
their  ancient  self-esteem  : it  is  an  expression  of  their 
hatred,  their  resentment  of  the  foreign  aggression  which 
they  fear,  but  are  powerless  to  resist. 

From  September  nth  to  Christmas  Day  Bassak  con- 
tinued to  be  the  headquarters  of  the  expedition.  The  camp 
was  formed  in  deluges  of  rain,  and  for  many  days  the  down- 
pour continued  unabated,  but  when  fine  weather  re- 
turned a number  of  interesting  explorations  were  made 
from  this  new  base.  Gamier,  Delaporte  and  Thorel  be- 
gan by  visiting  the  plateau  situated  to  the  north  of 
Bassak,  but  did  not  succeed  in  reaching  the  summit. 
Next  Gamier  was  sent  by  de  Lagree  to  explore  the 
lower  reaches  of  the  Se-Dom,  a river  which  falls  into  the 
Mekong  on  its  left  bank  some  miles  above  Bassak.  Up 
this  stream  he  proceeded  to  a point  where  it  bifurcates, 
and  thence  up  the  western  branch  to  the  great  falls  which 
are  some  fifty  feet  in  height.  Thence  he  returned  down- 
stream, and  set  off  with  elephants  in  search  of  some 
silver  mines,  the  existence  of  which  had  been  rumoured  by 
Mouhot.  At  the  end  of  a laborious  day’s  journey  he 
found  himself  in  the  village  of  one  of  the  wild  tribes,  and 
was  informed  by  his  guides  that  there  were  no  mines  to 
be  seen,  and  that  they  had  thought  from  the  first  that  he 
desired  to  visit  the  habitations  of  the  “ savages.”  Neither 


PNOM  PENH  TO  UBON  177 


he  nor  his  interpreters  had  any  great  knowledge  of  the 
Laotine  dialect ; “ varied  gestures  and  ingenious  draw- 
ings,” he  tells  us,  “ were  called  to  the  aid  of  our  igno- 
rance of  words,  and  it  was  rarely  that  by  this  process  we 
did  not  obtain,  at  the  end  of  half  an  hour  of  effort, 
seven  or  eight  entirely  contradictory  answers.”  In  these 
circumstances  there  was  room  and  to  spare  for  misunder- 
standings, but  Gamier  believed,  and  perhaps  justly,  that 
the  locality  of  silver  mines  was  being  purposely  con- 
cealed from  him.  He  was  unable  to  prove  the  truth  of 
his  suspicions,  however,  and  eventually  had  to  return  to 
Bassak  without  having  obtained  any  information  concern- 
ing the  object  of  his  search. 

He  reached  headquarters  on  October  9th,  and  found 
that  the  Mekong  had  fallen  more  than  sixteen  feet  during 
his  week  of  absence.  The  end  of  the  rainy  season  had 
come ; on  every  hand  preparations  were  being  made 
for  planting  the  land  which  had  been  enriched  by  the 
overflow  of  the  river,  and  during  the  last  days  of  the 
month,  the  travellers  witnessed  the  great  feast  of  Hena 
Song,  which  is  a kind  of  public  thanksgiving  annually 
made  for  the  harvest  that  is  to  be.  Immediately  after  the 
feast  Gamier  set  off  down  the  Mekong,  his  object  being  to 
get  word  of  the  mail-bags  of  the  expedition  which  were 
long  overdue.  Leaving  Bassak  on  November  4th,  Gar- 
nier  reached  Stung-Treng  four  days  later,  and  there 
learned  the  disquieting  news  that  the  insurrection  which 
had  broken  out  in  Kambodia  under  Pu  Kombo  had 
assumed  serious  proportions,  and  that  the  valley  of  the 
Mekong  to  the  south  of  Stung-Treng  was  in  the  hands  of 


>78 


FURTHER  INDIA 


the  rebels.  Gamier  therefore  sent  his  interpreter,  Alexis, 
down  river  with  letters  for  the  French  authorities, 
and  himself  returned  up-stream  on  November  12th, 
reaching  Bassak  on  November  23d,  after  spending  much 
time  in  the  detailed  exploration  and  survey  of  the 
Mekong  and  its  banks. 

Meanwhile  de  Lagree  had  led  an  expedition  up  the  Se- 
Dom,  hauling  his  boats  up  the  rapids  already  discovered 
by  Gamier,  and  ascending  the  river  until  the  village  of 
Smia,  on  the  right  bank,  was  reached.  From  this  point 
his  party  trudged  up  the  left  bank  of  the  Se-Dom  to  the 
falls  of  Keng  Noi,  and  then  struck  across  open  grassy 
plains,  broken  by  occasional  rice-fields  and  patches  of 
forest,  to  Saravan,  where  the  Se-Dom  was  once  more  met 
with.  From  this  village  they  continued  the  ascent  of  the 
stream,  walking  up  its  banks  and  crossing  and  recrossing 
it  at  frequent  intervals,  for  four  days,  when  they  finally 
quitted  it  and  struck  across  the  dividing  ridges  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  head  waters  of  the  Se-Kong. 

The  Se-Kong,  when  first  encountered,  was  already 
more  than  100  yards  in  width,  but  the  travellers  had  to 
tramp  down  its  banks  for  two  days  before  the  first  in- 
habited villages  were  met  with.  At  Ban  Kumkang  boats 
wrere  obtained,  and  in  these  the  foot-weary  men  were  car- 
ried to  Attopeu,  the  village  which  is  the  chief  trade-centre 
of  the  valley  and  is  situated  in  the  heart  of  a district  in- 
habited thickly  by  wild  tribes.  Ethnologically  these  tribes- 
men are  distinct  from  the  Laotines,  their  noses  being  straight 
and  fine,  their  foreheads  more  developed.  These  tribesmen 
are  known  in  Laos  by  the  generic  name  of  Khas,  are 


The  Mekong  at  Hsin  Tu  Ku 


PNOM  PENH  TO  UBON  179 


called  Moi  in  Annam,  and  Pen-nong  in  Kambodia,  and 
though  it  is  probable  that  they  belong  to  different 
branches  of  a single  race,  they  are  known  among  them- 
selves by  more  than  a dozen  distinctive  names.  They 
furnish  one  of  the  many  riddles  propounded  by  south- 
eastern Asia  to  the  ethnologist.  The  Negrito,  who  is 
represented  by  the  Semang  and  Pangan  tribes  of  the 
Malay  Peninsula,  is  not  found  in  Indo-China,  but  on  the 
other  hand  the  hillmen  of  a brown  race,  corresponding 
to  the  Sakai  of  Malaya,  count  many  thousands  of  indi- 
viduals in  Kambodia,  Annam,  Laos  and  the  Shan  States. 

In  their  character  these  unhappy  folk  to  the  south  of 
Luang  Prabang,  who  from  time  immemorial  have  been 
the  prey  of  their  more  civilised  and  therefore  stronger 
neighbours,  appear  to  be  peaceable,  gentle  and  timorous. 
Some  of  the  more  remote  tribes,  who  dwell  in  the  fast- 
nesses of  the  mountains  and  hold  communication  only  spar- 
ingly with  even  the  tamer  aborigines,  are  reputed  to  be 
ferocious,  but  the  same  legend  is  current  wherever  such 
tribes  exist,  and  its  origin  may  perhaps  be  traced  to  a de- 
sire on  the  part  of  the  slave-traders  to  enhance  the  value 
of  their  wares.  That  the  aborigines  look  upon  all  other 
human  beings  as  their  enemies  is  likely  enough,  since 
time  out  of  mind  their  children  have  been  abducted  and 
sold  into  slavery.  That  they  will  fight  on  occasion  to  pre- 
vent this  is  also  possible,  but  none  of  these  down-trodden 
races  have  any  love  of  fighting  for  its  own  sake,  and  they 
always  prefer  flight  to  battle,  after  the  manner  of  all  other 
denizens  of  the  jungle.  Gamier,  in  writing  of  some  of  these 
poor  creatures,  mentions  the  horror  with  which  he  noted 


i8o 


FURTHER  INDIA 


the  miserable  eyes  of  their  women  following  him  when  he 
chanced  to  look  admiringly  at  some  of  the  children.  The 
fear  was  upon  them  lest  he  should  seize  the  little  ones,  in 
which  case  the  bereaved  parents  would  have  had  no 
choice  but  to  submit,  and  the  women’s  eyes  were  elo- 
quent of  pitiful  memories  of  the  lot  to  which  the  wild 
tribes-folk  are  born. 

Leaving  Attopeu,  de  Lagree  descended  the  course  of 
the  Se-Kong  as  far  as  Tapak,  whence  he  journeyed  over- 
land to  Bassak.  Attopeu  itself  had  been  visited  by  van 
Wusthof  in  the  seventeenth  century,  but  the  whole  of  the 
Se-Dom  and  the  head  waters  of  the  Se-Kong  were  now 
explored  by  Europeans  for  the  first  time,  as  also  was  the 
country  between  Tapak  and  Bassak.  Careful  surveys 
had  been  made  and  the  course  of  two  large  rivers,  to- 
gether with  much  of  the  country  lying  between  them, 
had  been  added  to  the  map,  an  important  piece  of  work 
to  have  been  accomplished  in  the  space  of  two  and 
thirty  days. 

The  officers  left  behind  at  Bassak,  and  Gamier  himself 
after  he  had  rejoined  them,  had  been  busy  exploring  the 
ruins  of  Wat  Phu,  a pagoda  perched  upon  a hill,  which 
presents  most  perfect  and  finished  examples  of  Khmer 
art.  It  is  noteworthy  that  parts  of  this  building  are 
incomplete,  and  that  some  of  the  more  recent  carving  is 
of  inferior  workmanship  and  obviously  belongs  to  a 
period  after  the  decline  of  the  Khmer  people  had  begun. 

During  their  stay  at  Bassak,  the  explorers  had  taken 
careful  note  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  river.  Its  flow  on 
December  5th,  when  its  waters  had  subsided  to  their  or- 


PNOM  PENH  TO  UBON  181 


dinary  level,  was  estimated  by  Gamier  at  9,000  cubic 
metres  per  second,  whereas  in  flood  time,  on  September 
20th,  the  volume  was  increased  to  50,000  cubic  metres 
per  second,  although  both  the  Se-Kong  and  the  Tonli- 
Repu  fall  into  the  Mekong  below  this  point.  The  esti- 
mate for  the  river  at  Pnom  Penh,  in  seasons  when  the 
river  is  full,  is  between  60,000  and  70,000  cubic  metres, 
while  Garnier’s  estimate  for  the  Mekong  at  Bassak  at  dead 
low  water  was  only  from  2,000  to  3,000.  On  the  other 
hand  the  Irawadi,  at  the  head  of  the  delta,  is  estimated  at 
2,130  cubic  metres  per  second,  while  the  waters  of  the 
Ganges  at  a similar  point,  and  at  high  water,  is  estimated 
at  no  less  than  167,000  cubic  metres.  With  this  the  Me- 
kong can,  of  course,  make  no  comparison,  yet  the  rise  of 
the  river  from  low  to  flood  level  between  Kratieh  and 
Pnom  Penh  is  at  least  forty  feet  in  the  course  of  the  year, 
a fact  which  accounts  for  the  constant  changes  wrought 
in  its  bed,  and  for  the  immense  inundations  which  serve 
to  enrich  and  fertilise  so  large  an  area  of  its  valley. 

As  regards  the  navigability  of  the  river,  Gamier  arrived 
at  the  conclusion  that  it  was  feasible  for  shallow-draught 
steamers  as  far  as  the  Sombor  rapids,  which  are  at  a dis- 
tance of  nearly  400  miles  from  its  mouth  ; that  above  this 
point  big  poling-boats  could  be  used  for  its  ascent,  and 
large  bamboo  rafts  for  its  descent ; and  that  below  Bassak 
the  Khon  rapids  presented  the  only  really  serious  ob- 
stacle to  navigation.  Here,  however,  even  if  a safe  chan- 
nel could  be  found,  the  force  of  the  current  was  such  that 
no  steamer  could  possibly,  he  thought,  make  headway 
against  it. 


182 


FURTHER  INDIA 


While  the  expedition  was  still  at  Bassak,  Alexis,  the 
native  interpreter,  returned,  having  failed  to  get  through 
to  Pnom  Penh,  and  after  much  discussion  it  was  deter- 
mined to  send  him  overland  to  the  capital  of  Kambodia, 
via  Angkor,  while  the  explorers  pushed  on  to  Ubon,  on 
the  banks  of  the  Se-Mun,  a right-bank  tributary  of  the 
Mekong.  Accordingly,  on  December  25th,  the  camp  at 
Bassak  was  broken  up,  the  explorers  taking  leave  of  the 
King  and  the  natives,  who  had  shown  them  much  cour- 
tesy and  kindness,  and  proceeding  on  their  journey  up- 
stream. The  expedition  passed  through  the  defile  by 
means  of  which  the  Mekong  flows  round  the  foot  of 
Phu  Molong  on  December  26th,  skirted  the  big  isolated 
mountain  of  Phu  Fadang,  where  the  stream,  imprisoned 
between  smooth,  rocky  walls,  measures  barely  200  yards 
across,  and  entered  the  Se-Mun  on  January  3rd.  On 
the  same  day  the  village  of  Pi-Mun,  was  reached,  and 
here  the  gear  of  the  expedition  had  to  be  transshipped 
into  boats  sent  for  the  purpose  from  Ubon.  Above 
this  point  the  Se-Mun  runs  down  a succession  of  long, 
straight  reaches  which  have  the  air  of  having  been  hewn 
out  by  the  labour  of  man,  and  on  each  side  a great  grassy 
plain  spreads  away  to  the  horizon. 

Ubon  was  reached  on  January  7th T agglomeration 
la  plus  vivante  que  nous  eussions  encore  rencontree ,”  as 
Gamier  described  it,  a very  large  village  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Se-Mun,  the  centre  of  the  trade  of  this  part  of  the 
Mekong  valley.  From  this  point  all  commerce  is  con- 
ducted, not  by  river  with  Kambodia  and  Saigon,  but 
overland  with  Korat  and  Bangkok.  For  all  practical 


PNOM  PENH  TO  UBON  183 


purposes,  Bassak  may  be  described  as  the  most  distant 
trade-centre  in  the  Mekong  valley  which  traffics  with  the 
districts  of  the  delta.  It  is,  and  always  has  been,  the 
dream  of  the  French  colonial  authorities  to  divert  the 
trade  of  the  Hinterland  in  such  a manner  that  it  may  be 
made  to  flow  through  the  possessions  of  France,  and 
Saigon  having  come,  through  fortuitous  circumstances 
rather  than  by  design,  to  occupy  the  position  of  capital 
of  Indo-China,  it  has  been  thought  that  commerce  should 
be  forced  to  pass  through  that  town.  The  oppressive 
custom-dues  formerly  exacted  by  Kambodia  and  the 
conquest  of  Laos  by  Siam  may  both  have  contributed  to 
the  selection  of  the  overland  in  preference  to  the  river- 
route,  but  apart  from  political  considerations,  the  question 
is  in  the  main  one  of  convenience  and  cheapness.  The 
bulk  and  value  of  the  trade  involved  are  not  great,  and  it 
has  been  found  that  goods  can  be  conveyed  to  Korat  and 
Bangkok  with  less  trouble  than  to  the  coast  of  the  China 
Sea.  The  long  and  tedious  return-journey  against  the 
current  is  a labour  that  cannot  be  lightly  faced,  and  it  may 
be  predicted  with  some  degree  of  certainty  that  Saigon 
will  never  be  the  recipient  of  the  bulk  of  the  trade  ex- 
ported from  the  interior. 

At  the  present  time  Bangkok  and  Korat  are  already 
joined  by  a railroad,  and  the  French  are  negotiating  for 
the  extension  of  this  work  eastward  from  Korat,  whence  it 
would  pass  almost  due  east  to  Hue,  crossing  the  Mekong 
at  Kamarat,  and  eventually  finding  the  sea  at  Turon. 
The  country  between  Kamarat  and  Hue  is  mountainous, 
and  the  construction  of  this  section  would  be  excessively 


184 


FURTHER  INDIA 


costly.  Were  the  engineering  difficulties  to  be  overcome, 
however,  it  is  possible  that  Turon  might  become  the  out- 
let for  the  bulk  of  the  trade  of  the  upper  valley  of  the 
Mekong : on  the  other  hand  it  is  equally  possible  that 
Bangkok  would  maintain  its  old  commercial  supremacy, 
in  which  case  the  enormous  expenditure  upon  the  con- 
struction of  the  line  would  be  a sacrifice  made  in  vain. 
In  any  case  the  trade  of  this  region  would  have  to 
undergo  an  immense  expansion  before  the  proposed  rail- 
way could  conceivably  become  a paying  concern.  Cu- 
riously enough,  however,  fear  of  injuring  Saigon,  rather 
than  any  sounder  reason,  is  mainly  responsible  for  the 
opposition  offered  by  Frenchmen  to  the  scheme;  this 
is  to  be  regretted,  because  the  present  capital  can  never 
hope  to  claim  the  bulk  of  the  inland  trade.  Until  French 
administrators  can  learn  to  regard  their  colonial  posses- 
sions in  Indo-China  as  a whole,  and  to  seek  their  good  as 
such,  without  paying  too  close  an  attention  to  purely 
local  interests,  the  prospects  of  that  empire  are  none  too 
hopeful. 

From  Ubon  Gamier  started  on  January  10th  on  a fly- 
ing visit  to  Pnom  Penh,  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  back 
the  missing  mails.  He  ascended  the  Se-Mun  for  three 
days,  passing  through  open,  grassy  plains  from  which  the 
forest  had  long  before  been  cleared  by  burning ; then, 
leaving  his  boats  at  Sam-Lan,  he  proceeded  overland 
to  Si-Saket,  where  for  the  first  time  for  many  months  he 
again  encountered  Kambodians.  Having  procured  four 
rough  carts  drawn  by  trotting-bullocks,  he  crossed  some 
twenty  miles  of  grass  country  and  entered  the  forest,  which 


PNOM  PENH  TO  UBON  185 


was  not  too  dense  to  admit  of  the  use  of  vehicles. 
At  Kukan,  thirty-eight  miles  to  the  south  of  Si-Saket, 
he  found  himself  once  more  in  Kambodian  country,  the 
natives  being  all  Khmers  who  spoke  none  save  their  own 
language,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  province  had  been 
annexed  by  Siam  at  a period  anterior  to  the  conquest  of 
Batambang  and  Siamreap. 

Still  using  his  carts,  and  crossing  the  rivers  by  means 
of  good  wooden  bridges  constructed  by  the  Kambodians, 
Gamier  drove  west-southwest  to  Sankea,  a distance  of 
some  twenty-five  miles,  where  the  track  bifurcates,  one 
branch  leading  west  to  Korat,  the  other  south  to  Ang- 
kor. Taking  the  former  by  the  advice  of  the  local 
authorities,  who  seem  to  have  misled  him  through  sheer 
inability  to  understand  that  any  one  could  possibly  be  in  a 
hurry,  he  went  out  of  his  way  as  far  as  Suren,  whence  he 
again  turned  towards  the  south,  reaching  Su-Krom  on 
January  22nd.  Here  he  was  assured  that  the  road  ahead 
of  him  was  impassable  for  vehicles,  but  declining  to  be 
moved  by  these  representations,  he  pushed  on  resolutely. 
Despite  the  desertion  in  mid-forest  of  all  his  guides  and 
native  drivers,  he  presently  found  himself,  with  the  little 
knot  of  French  sailors  and  non-commissioned  officers 
whom  he  was  taking  back  to  Kambodia,  on  the  lip  of  a 
precipitous  cliff  some  600  feet  in  height ; he  had  reached 
the  abrupt  ending  of  the  plateau  across  which  he  had  been 
travelling  ever  since  his  departure  from  Ubon.  A path 
down  the  face  of  the  cliff  was  discovered,  but  it  was  of  a 
nature  which  necessitated  the  bullocks  being  unyoked  and 
the  carts  being  taken  to  pieces  before  it  could  be  nego- 


i86 


FURTHER  INDIA 


tiated.  Gamier  set  doggedly  to  work  to  perform  this 
heavy  task.  A merciless  sun  beat  down  upon  the  toiling 
white  men  ; the  bullocks,  intensely  offended  by  the  scent 
of  Europeans,  gave  an  infinity  of  trouble  ; the  heat  became 
unendurable,  and  presently  the  little  party  was  racked 
with  thirst.  One  by  one  the  men  gave  in,  and  threw 
themselves  gasping  upon  the  ground,  but  Gamier  wan- 
dered far  and  wide  over  the  dry  river-courses  in  search  of 
water,  and  at  last  found  a deep,  tepid  pool.  The  good 
news  was  carried  to  his  comrades,  and  soon  they  were 
sufficiently  revived  to  resume  their  labours.  By  iop.  m. 
the  work  was  at  last  accomplished  ; the  carts  and  bullocks, 
together  with  all  the  gear,  had  been  conveyed  to  the  plain 
below ; camp-fires  had  been  lighted  and  a well-earned 
rest  was  enjoyed.  It  was  precisely  at  this  moment 
that  the  Governor  of  Su-Krom  arrived  with  a large  res- 
cue-party. He  was  mightily  astonished  to  find  that  the 
difficult  descent  had  been  effected  without  his  aid,  and 
Gamier  was  careful  to  treat  the  matter  lightly  in  order 
that  the  chief  might  be  the  more  impressed  by  the  energy 
and  resource  of  the  French  explorers. 

After  quitting  the  Ubon  plateau,  Gamier  traversed  a 
waste  of  sandy  plain,  and  on  January  25th  reached  Kon- 
kan,  where  he  discovered  the  dried-up  bed  of  an  ancient 
lake, — yet  another  trace  of  the  seismic  convulsions  which 
may,  perhaps,  have  caused  the  abandonment  of  the 
Khmer  towns.  Near  Suren  he  had  already  noted  the  ex- 
istence of  ruins,  and  now  close  to  Konkan  he  discovered  a 
magnificent  stone  bridge  standing  thirty  metres  above  the 
level  of  the  stream,  three  great  fragments  of  which  still 


PNOM  PENH  TO  UBON  187 


span  the  Stung-Treng  river.  The  central  span  is  148 
metres  long  and  fifteen  metres  broad ; the  parapets  are  sup- 
ported by  carved  monkeys  and  by  dragons  with  nine 
heads,  similar  to  those  found  at  Angkor ; the  arches  are 
thirty-four  in  number,  and  the  whole  is  fashioned  from 
sandstone. 

Beyond  this  point  more  ruins  were  found,  and  the  vil- 
lages became  numerous.  The  Kambodians  of  the  dis- 
trict, although  they  were  under  the  rule  of  Siam,  struck 
Gamier  as  being  more  faithful  to  the  ancient  usages  of 
their  race,  and  more  wedded  to  its  traditions,  than  are 
their  countrymen  to  the  south.  Given  the  time,  he 
thought  that  here,  perhaps,  might  be  learned  something 
concerning  the  lost  story  of  the  great  Khmer  empire;  but 
Gamier  could  not  allow  himself  the  leisure  even  to  turn 
aside  to  examine  some  of  the  ruins  of  whose  existence 
the  natives  told  him,  and  was  obliged  to  push  on  to 
Siamreap,  where  he  arrived  on  January  29th. 

He  here  received  reliable  news  concerning  Pu  Kombo’s 
rebellion.  At  one  time  King  Norodon  had  been  besieged 
in  Pnom  Penh,  but  he  had  been  rescued  from  this  preca- 
rious position  by  French  troops.  None  the  less  most  of 
the  shores  of  the  Great  Lake  and  of  its  southern  arm 
were  still  in  the  hands  of  the  insurgents.  Gamier  thus 
found  himself  separated  from  his  countrymen  to  the  south 
by  a narrow  zone  of  country  held  by  the  enemy.  Turn- 
ing a deaf  ear  to  the  protests  of  the  Siamese  Governor  of 
Siamreap,  he  procured  a boat  and  a crew  of  Annamites, 
and  slipping  past  the  rebel  post  at  Kompong  Pluk  just 
before  the  dawn  on  February  5th,  found  a French  gun- 


i88 


FURTHER  INDIA 


boat  at  Kompong  Luong,  and  the  same  evening  reached 
Pnom  Penh  after  a dangerous  and  toilsome  journey  ex- 
tending over  twenty  seven  days. 

Pnom  Penh  was  occupied  by  French  troops,  and  the 
precious  mails  were  found  at  last.  Most  of  the  private 
letters,  and  all  the  scientific  instruments  destined  for 
the  explorers,  had  been  wantonly  left  behind  at  Saigon  ; 
but  the  Chinese  passports  were  forthcoming,  and  Gamier 
contrived  to  procure  the  loan  of  a barometer.  Judging 
rightly  that  safety  lay  in  speed,  and  in  starting  upon  his 
return  journey  before  word  of  his  project  could  reach  the 
rebels,  he  allowed  himself  only  two  days’  sojourn  at 
Pnom  Penh,  and  left  that  post  again  on  February  8th. 
Once  more  he  successfully  ran  the  gauntlet  of  the  rebel 
war-parties,  and  on  the  sixth  day  reached  Siamreap. 
From  this  point  he  struck  out  for  Ubon,  taking  as  direct 
a line  as  possible.  Leaving  Angkor  Wat,  he  crossed  a 
desert  plain,  passed  over  the  Pnom  Kulen  range, — upon 
one  of  the  highest  peaks  of  which  he  discovered  some 
new  Khmer  ruins, — and  so  entered  the  Pre  Saa,  or  “ Mag- 
nificent Forest,”  through  which  he  had  great  difficulty  in 
taking  his  bullock-carts.  After  traversing  thirty  miles  of 
uninhabited  country,  he  abandoned  his  carts  at  the  first 
village,  and  thereafter  was  handed  on  from  place  to  place 
by  relays  of  porters.  In  some  villages  the  men  were  busy 
with  the  harvest,  and  only  girls  were  procurable  for  the 
transport  of  his  baggage.  Woman,  as  a beast  of  burden, 
he  discovered,  left  much  to  be  desired,  for  the  damsels 
treated  him  and  his  business  as  an  immense  joke.  When 
he  entreated  them  to  hasten  and  not  to  tarry  by  the  way, 


PNOM  PENH  TO  UBON  189 


they  giggled  delightedly,  but  took  no  sort  of  notice  of  his 
prayers.  At  each  stream  they  cast  aside  their  scanty 
garments  and  bathed  themselves  elaborately,  while  he,  in 
outraged  modesty,  stood  protesting  on  the  banks.  It 
was  with  a sigh  of  intense  relief  that  he  at  last  saw 
their  burdens  transferred  to  the  shoulders  of  sober-minded 
respectable  men,  who  were  innocent  alike  of  their  follies 
and  their  feminine  caprices. 

Travelling  in  this  fashion  from  hamlet  to  hamlet,  Gar- 
nier  crossed  the  Stung-Treng  close  to  its  source,  and 
scaled  the  cliff,  in  which  the  Ubon  plateau  has  its  abrupt 
ending,  at  a point  somewhat  to  the  east  of  that  at  which 
he  had  descended  it  with  so  much  labour.  He  discovered, 
however,  that  his  guides  had  not  taken  him  sufficiently 
far  in  the  desired  direction,  and  that  he  was  even  now 
only  two  days’  march  from  Kukan.  For  this  place  he 
accordingly  made,  and  thence  followed  his  original  route 
to  Ubon  where  he  arrived  on  February  26.  The  rest  of 
the  expedition  had  left  for  Kamarat  more  than  a month 
earlier,  so  Gamier  hastened  to  overtake  them,  descending 
the  Se-Mun  to  its  mouth  and  poling  up  the  Mekong  un- 
til, on  March  10th,  thirty  days  after  his  departure  from 
Pnom  Penh,  he  saw  the  French  flag  flying  over  a hut  at 
Hutien,  and  knew  that  his  solitary  journey  was  ended. 

Since  parting  with  de  Lagree  at  Ubon  he  had  trav- 
ersed over  a thousand  miles  of  country,  the  greater  part 
of  which  had  never  previously  been  visited  by  a European  ; 
he  had  filled  in  a blank  which  had  long  disfigured  this 
part  of  the  map ; he  had  fixed  the  position  of  numerous 
landmarks,  had  discovered  several  Khmer  ruins  of  im- 


190  FURTHER  INDIA 

portance,  and  had  twice  run  the  gauntlet  of  the  Kambo- 
dian  rebels.  Above  all,  he  had  brought  back  with  him 
the  Chinese  passports  which  were  to  open  the  doors  of 
Yun-nan  to  the  expedition.  It  was  a goodly  list  of 
achievements,  all  of  which  had  been  effected  in  the  space 
of  two  months,  and  de  Lagree  had  indeed  ample  reason 
to  congratulate  himself  upon  the  possession  of  such  a 
lieutenant. 


CHAPTER  IX 


UBON  TO  LUANG  PRABANG MOUHOT  AND  OTHER  EXPLORERS 

DURING  the  two  months  spent  by  Francis  Gar- 
nier  in  making  the  flying  visit  to  Pnom  Penh 
described  in  the  preceding  chapter,  the  rest  of 
the  expedition  had  continued  its  explorations  around 
Ubon  and  to  the  north.  The  province  of  Ubon  at  this 
time  supported  a population  estimated  at  80,000  souls, 
and  the  chief  object  of  interest  was  the  salt-pans  which 
supply  the  natives  of  the  district  with  a large  part  of  their 
livelihood.  A patch  of  country  some  forty  miles  in  length, 
on  the  plateau  of  Ubon,  appears  to  cover  great  reservoirs 
of  brine,  and  each  dry  season  the  salt  is  precipitated  on 
the  surface  in  the  form  of  a white,  powdery  dust.  This 
is  collected  by  the  natives,  cleansed  in  water,  and  is  once 
more  precipitated  in  a purified  condition  in  large  caldrons, 
which  are  exposed  to  the  rays  of  the  sun.  A single 
worker  wins  about  fifteen  pounds  per  diem,  and  the  in- 
dustry is  in  full  swing  for  a period  of  three  months.  As 
soon  as  the  dry  season  shows  signs  of  breaking,  the 
ground  from  the  surface  of  which  the  salt  has  been 
gathered  is  sown  with  rice ; good  crops  are  obtained,  and 
the  soil  thus  yields,  as  it  were,  two  harvests  annually 
to  its  owners. 

On  January  15th,  Delaporte  left  Ubon  and  descended 
the  Se-Mun,  for  the  purpose  of  surveying  the  Mekong 

191 


192 


FURTHER  INDIA 


from  the  mouth  of  the  former  river  to  Kamarat.  The 
rainy  season  had  not  yet  begun,  and  the  exposed  bed  of 
the  Mekong  was  seen  to  be  a mass  of  enormous  rocks  and 
boulders  which  lay  about  in  wonderful  confusion,  piled 
one  upon  another  like  a heap  of  gigantic  pebbles,  amid 
which  the  river  made  its  way  in  numberless  shrunken 
streams.  In  places  its  channel  was  barely  200  feet 
across ; in  no  part  did  its  width  exceed  1 ,000  yards. 
At  its  narrowest  and  deepest,  soundings  could  not  find 
bottom  at  300  feet.  Each  narrowing  of  the  fairway  pro- 
duced rapids,  the  ascent  of  which  was  difficult  and  even 
dangerous,  while  here  and  there  the  current  ran  grandly 
between  sheer  cliffs  of  water-worn  rock.  The  river,  in 
fact,  was  now  running  through  a mountainous  zone, 
which  it  enters  a little  below  Chieng  Kang,  and  its  course 
from  that  point  to  the  mouth  of  the  Se-Mun  is  beset  with 
difficulties.  None  the  less,  it  is  freely  used  for  the  big 
rafts  upon  which  the  Laos  people  transport  their  goods 
down-stream,  and  it  is  also  navigable  for  native  craft  of 
light  calibre. 

De  Lagree,  meanwhile,  and  the  rest  of  the  party,  had 
left  Ubon  on  January  20th,  with  fifteen  bullock-carts  and 
fifty  Laotine  porters,  bound  upon  an  overland  march  to 
Kamarat.  Four  days’  tramp  over  a flat  and  often  sandy 
plain,  covered  with  rice-fields  and  clearings,  and  traversed 
by  an  unmade  cart-track,  brought  him  to  Muong  Amnat, 
thirty-five  miles  due  north  of  Ubon.  Here  the  cultivation 
of  silk-worms  and  of  the  coccus  lacca  were  found  to  be 
the  principal  industries  of  the  natives,  and  here  too  de 
Lagree  paid  off  his  carriers  and  engaged  fresh  men  for 


Alexandre  Henri  Mouhot 


UBON  TO  LUANG  PRABANG  193 


the  march  to  Kamarat.  The  meticulous  conduct  of  the 
Frenchmen,  who  insisted  upon  paying  for  services  ren- 
dered to  them,  occasioned  considerable  surprise  through- 
out their  journey.  The  chiefs  openly  lamented  the  waste 
of  good  brass  wire  upon  mere  peasants,  and  thought  that 
if  such  things  were  going  cheap,  they  themselves  should 
have  been  selected  as  the  recipients.  The  porters  could 
barely  comprehend  a love  of  justice  which  declined  to  de- 
fraud the  labourer  of  his  hire,  and  which  at  the  same  time 
restricted  his  indubitable  rights ; for  when  performing  a 
like  service  for  Siamese  officials  they  had  always  been 
permitted  to  rob  the  villagers  of  the  whole  countryside, 
and  this  de  Lagree  would  by  no  means  allow.  On  the 
whole  it  may  be  questioned  whether  the  justice  of  the 
white  man  impressed  the  natives  as  anything  more 
admirable  than  an  inexplicable  eccentricity.  The  point 
is  interesting  because  it  illustrates  in  an  amusing  fashion 
the  divergent  views  of  the  East  and  the  West,  and  the 
frequency  with  which  the  principles  of  the  latter  fail  to 
make  any  appeal  to  the  understanding  or  admiration  of 
the  former. 

From  Amnat  the  way  led  through  wild  and  sparsely 
peopled  country,  separated  from  the  Mekong  by  a belt  of 
forest,  to  a district  broken  by  gentle  undulations,  where 
the  previously  sandy  soil,  bespattered  with  out-crops  of 
iron-stone,  is  replaced  by  rice-fields.  On  January  30th 
the  travellers  found  Delaporte  awaiting  them  at  Kamarat. 
This  place,  the  point  at  which  the  proposed  railway  will 
cross  the  Mekong,  is  situated  on  the  right  bank,  as  indeed, 
since  the  subjugation  of  Laos  by  Siam  at  the  beginning 


*94 


FURTHER  INDIA 


of  last  century,  are  all  the  principal  villages  in  the  valley 
above  the  Khon  rapids. 

Using  Kamarat  as  his  base,  de  Lagree  undertook  a 
short  journey  of  exploration  into  the  valley  of  the  Se 
Bang-Hien,  a left  bank  tributary  of  the  Mekong  which 
falls  into  the  latter  river  opposite  to  Kamarat.  He  was 
absent  eight  days,  and  during  that  period  travelled  on 
elephants  to  Lahanam,  where  he  found  the  Se  Bang-Hien 
measuring  900  yards  across.  Thence  he  proceeded  up 
the  valley  to  Muong  San  Kon,  below  the  mouth  of  the 
Som  Phon,  and  so  across  marshy  country,  to  Phong ; 
then  east  and  north  to  Ban  Najo  and  Lomnu ; and  so 
south  to  Kamarat  via  Ban  Tang  Sum  and  Laha  Kok. 
From  Ban  Najo  the  country  traversed  was  populous,  and 
the  short  trip  served  to  fill  in  a small  blank  upon  the  map. 
Its  interest,  however,  was  mainly  ethnological,  de  Lagree 
making  the  acquaintance  of  three  remarkable  tribes,  the 
Sue,  the  Phu  Tai  and  the  Khas  Denong.  These  “ sav- 
ages,” and  especially  the  Sue,  are  comparatively  civilised, 
and  the  last  named,  it  is  worthy  of  note,  practise  a form 
of  ancestor  worship,  while  their  dialect  is  apparently  a 
variant  of  Kambodian. 

During  this  journey  de  Lagree  also  succeeded  in  estab- 
lishing the  fact  that  up  to  1831  Annam  had  exercised  con- 
trol over  the  whole  of  the  country  situated  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Mekong  between  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
parallels  of  latitude ; this  region  had  paid  tribute  regularly 
to  the  Court  of  Hue.  The  information  was  of  political  im- 
portance in  view  of  the  position  which  France  has  since 
acquired  in  the  Kingdom  of  Annam.  De  Lagree  ascer- 


UBON  TO  LUANG  PRABANG  195 


tained  that  up  to  the  time  mentioned  trade  routes  to  the 
Annamite  capital  had  been  in  constant  use,  and  that  the 
prosperity  of  the  district  had  been  considerable.  In  1831, 
the  Siamese,  fresh  from  their  reduction  of  the  Laos  States 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  invaded  the  country  on  the 
left  bank,  but  were  defeated  by  the  Annamites.  They 
returned  to  the  charge,  however,  and  this  time  they 
transported  the  entire  population  across  the  Mekong, 
leaving  the  left  bank  a desert.  In  this  devastated  and 
depopulated  area  the  Annamite  armies  could  not  operate, 
and  at  a later  period  the  Siamese  began  quietly  to  colo- 
nise the  abandoned  territory  afresh.  The  absence  of  pity, 
which  distinguishes  the  Oriental  as  opposed  to  the  Occi- 
dental, stands  him  in  good  stead  when  he  is  bent  upon 
conquest.  No  consideration  bred  of  sympathy  with 
human  suffering, — let  those  who  endure  it  be  never  so 
innocent  and  helpless,  let  the  scale  upon  which  it  is  con- 
ceived be  never  so  great, — causes  him  to  stay  his  hand  when 
ruthless  action  will  bring  about  the  result  at  which  he 
aimL  It  is  appalling  to  think  of  the  misery  which  the 
removal  of  the  entire  population  from  one  bank  to  the 
other  must  have  inflicted  upon  its  victims — agriculturists 
who  lived  from  season  to  season  by  such  harvests  as  they 
could  garner;  but  by  no  other  means,  it  is  probable,  could 
the  Siamese  have  possessed  themselves  of  the  country 
which  they  coveted,  and  from  which  they  had  already 
been  driven  when  they  attempted  to  seize  it  by 
force. 

Kamarat  was  left  on  February  13th,  by  boat,  and  the 
ascent  of  the  Mekong,  the  bed  of  which  is  here  strewn 


196 


FURTHER  INDIA 


with  great  sandstone  outcrops  and  obstructed  by  numer- 
ous flights  of  rapids,  was  begun  anew.  At  Keng  Kabao 
the  boats  of  the  expedition  had  to  be  unloaded  before 
they  could  be  hauled  up  the  falls,  but  a little  above  this 
point,  at  Ban  Thasaku,  the  river  was  found  running 
through  an  immense  plain  covered  with  forest,  and  as  it 
widened  out  the  difficulties  which  it  presented  to  naviga- 
tion ceased  for  a space. 

On  February  15th,  Ban  Nuk  was  reached,  a big  village 
below  which  is  the  handsome  temple  of  Tong  Bao,  with 
a facade  inlaid  with  porcelain  ; and  a week  later  the  party 
landed  at  Peu  Nom,  a pyramidal  structure  which  is  one 
of  the  most  famous  Buddhist  shrines  in  all  the  Laos 
country.  The  upper  portion  is  obviously  modern,  but 
its  base,  the  work  of  a Kambodian  princess  the  wife  of 
a King  of  Vien  Chan,  dates  from  early  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  is  believed  to  have  been  built  upon  the  site 
of  a far  older  pyramid. 

Leaving  Peu  Nom  on  February  24th,  the  expedition 
made  its  way  up-stream  to  Lakon,  opposite  to  which  vil- 
lage some  enormous  limestone  bluffs  spring  suddenly 
from  the  plain  ; from  these  the  natives  prepare  large 
quantities  of  quicklime,  both  for  building  purposes  and  as 
an  ingredient  of  the  betel-quid.  Here  a small  Annamite 
colony  was  met  with,  and  the  near  neighbourhood  of 
Annam  suggested  to  Gamier  the  possibility  of  opening 
communications  with  the  sea  via  Hue,  an  idea  which  has 
since  been  furthered  by  the  labours  of  other  explorers. 
Huten  was  reached  on  March  6th,  and  thence  de  Lagree 
and  Joubert  ascended  the  Nam  Hin  Bun  for  two  days, 


UBON  TO  LUANG  PRABANG  197 


and  visited  some  lead  mines  situated  in  the  valley  of  the 
Ban  Haten. 

De  Lagree,  on  his  return,  found  Gamier  at  Hutien  with 
the  precious  passports  in  his  possession,  and  on  the  mor- 
row the  journey  up  the  Mekong  was  resumed.  At  San- 
laburi,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sum  Kam,  the  boats  of 
the  expedition  were  changed,  and  by  March  16th  the 
explorers  found  themselves  once  more  passing  through 
forest  country,  though  four  days  later  Bun  Kang,  “ a 
large  and  beautiful  town,”  was  reached,  and  the  surround- 
ing district  was  found  to  be  richer  and  more  civilised  than 
lower  Laos.  The  Mekong  River,  which  had  been  flow- 
ing from  the  west  since  above  Lakon,  was  now  discovered 
to  be  running  definitely  from  that  direction,  and  its  wind- 
ings so  enormously  increased  the  distance  from  point  to 
point  that  cart-tracks  were  used  by  the  natives  in  prefer- 
ence to  boats,  though  a few  monster  rafts  continued  from 
time  to  time  to  loaf  down-stream.  On  March  23rd,  a more 
thickly  populated  country  was  entered,  and  Nong  Kun, 
opposite  to  the  important  tributary,  the  Se  Ngum,  was 
reached.  This  river  is  navigable  for  six  days’  journey 
from  its  junction  with  the  Mekong,  but  time  prevented 
its  exploration  by  the  expedition. 

At  Pon  Pisai,  on  March  24th,  boats  were  once  more 
changed,  and  a day  and  a half  brought  the  party  to 
Nong  Kai,  near  which  is  situated  the  ruined  city  of  Vien 
Chan,  once  the  capital  of  a united  Laos.  The  river  to 
this  point  had  frequently  been  difficult  of  navigation,  but 
the  rapids  of  Hang  Hong  are  the  only  very  formidable 
obstacles,  necessitating  a complete  cessation  of  traffic  for 


ig8 


FURTHER  INDIA 


some  weeks  at  a time  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year. 
The  rains  had  not  yet  come,  and  the  heat  was  intense,  the 
thermometer  registering  920  F.,  even  after  sundown. 

Nong  Kai  itself,  founded  after  the  destruction  of  Vien 
Chan,  is  a very  important  place,  the  largest  town  which 
the  travellers  had  seen  since  their  departure  from  Pnom 
Penh  nine  months  earlier.  The  Governor  of  Nong  Kai 
treated  the  party  with  courtesy,  and  undertook  to  send  one 
of  the  interpreters,  named  Seguin,  overland  to  Bangkok,  as 
de  Lagree  had  decided  to  dispense  with  his  services.  At  a 
later  period  this  man  was  able  to  furnish  Gamier  with 
some  useful  information  concerning  the  country  traversed 
by  him  between  Nong  Kai  and  the  Siamese  capital. 

On  April  2nd,  the  ruins  of  Vien  Chan  were  visited. 
Though  the  town  was  not  destroyed  and  forcibly  aban- 
doned until  1828,  it  was  already  completely  overgrown 
with  jungle.  From  an  architectural  and  archaeological 
point  of  view  this  place  is  not  more  interesting  than 
Bangkok  or  Ayuthia,  and  it  claims  our  attention  solely 
on  account  of  its  historical  associations  and  the  tragedy 
of  its  destruction.  It  was  formerly  the  capital  of  a 
Laotine  kingdom,  which,  founded  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, extended  from  the  Khon  rapids  to  the  twentieth  par- 
allel of  latitude,  thus  including  Luang  Prabang  itself.  In 
1528  revolutions  drove  from  the  throne  the  last  member 
of  the  dynasty  which  had  ruled  over  this  great  state,  and 
thereafter  a subdivision  of  its  territories  ensued.  The 
Laos  people  were  further  weakened  by  protracted  wars 
with  the  Gueos — hill-tribes  whose  identity  is  uncertain — 
and  in  a weak  moment  the  aid  of  Siam  was  invoked. 


UBON  TO  LUANG  PRABANG  199 


From  that  time  the  influence  of  Siam  increased,  and  by 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  subjugation  of 
the  whole  of  Laos  was  an  accomplished  fact.  In  1767 
Ayuthia  was  sacked  by  the  Burmese,  and  Laos,  which 
had  endured  the  yoke  of  Siam  with  little  gladness,  took 
the  opportunity  to  revolt.  The  insurrection  failed,  and 
all  went  on  as  before  until  early  in  the  nineteenth  century. 
About  1820  the  King  of  Vien  Chan,  finding  that  he  and 
his  people  were  being  mercilessly  pillaged  by  the  Siamese 
officer  accredited  to  his  Court,  and  having  failed  to  obtain 
redress  from  Bangkok,  caused  the  obnoxious  official  to 
be  assassinated.  A large  Siamese  army  was  at  once  sent 
against  Vien  Chan.  Its  ruler,  King  Anu,  tried  to  raise 
the  whole  of  Laos  against  the  common  enemy,  but 
Luang  Prabang  prudently  declined  to  take  any  hand  in 
the  matter.  Vien  Chan  was  taken  and  destroyed ; its 
population  was  expelled ; large  numbers  of  people  were 
burned  alive  in  barns,  and  all  manner  of  barbarities  were 
practised  by  the  invaders  with  the  object  of  impressing 
the  wrath  of  Siam  upon  the  memory  of  the  vanquished. 
Anu  himself  sought  refuge  in  Annam,  but  his  rendition 
having  been  obtained,  he  was  brought  to  Bangkok  and 
imprisoned  in  a cage,  in  which  he  presently  died  a mis- 
erable death.  His  son,  having  contrived  to  escape,  and 
having  thereafter  been  recaptured,  committed  suicide  by 
precipitating  himself  from  the  summit  of  the  pagoda  in 
which  he  was  incarcerated.  Some  of  the  survivors  of 
this  tragedy  were  used  to  populate  the  new  town  of  Nong 
Kai ; others  were  driven  off  in  herds  to  more  distant 
places ; while  others  again  were  distributed  as  slaves 


200 


FURTHER  INDIA 


among  the  victors.  Hundreds  died  of  hunger,  or  fell  by 
the  way  on  that  awful  march  which  was  to  lead  them  to 
a lifelong  captivity.  Vien  Chan,  wrecked  and  shattered, 
was  left  to  the  forest  and  to  the  wild  things  of  the  jungle, 
after  everything  portable  had  been  looted  from  it. 
The  dream  of  an  independent  Laos  was  ended  for  ever. 
To  this  day  children  are  cowed  into  obedience  throughout 
the  Laos  country  by  the  whispered  name  of  the  Praya 
Mitop,  the  Siamese  General  who  commanded  this  bloody 
punitive  expedition. 

The  dread  of  being  overtaken  by  the  rains  caused  de 
Lagree  to  push  on  from  Vien  Chan  with  as  little  delay  as 
possible,  and  twenty  miles  up-stream  a narrow  gorge  suc- 
ceeded by  difficult  rapids  was  encountered.  Progress  was 
slow,  and  on  April  8th  the  rapid  of  Keng  Kan  neces- 
sitated the  abandonment  of  the  boats,  the  explorers  walk- 
ing up  the  left  bank  to  Sanghao,  limping  bare-shod  over 
burning  rocks  and  through  thorny  jungles,  and  taking  five 
painful  hours  to  cover  a distance  of  six  miles.  New  boats 
were  obtained,  and  at  Ban  Kuklao,  reached  on  April  nth, 
other  craft  which  had  been  sent  to  meet  them  were 
found.  Next  day  the  last  of  the  rapids  was  passed,  and 
at  Chieng  Kang  the  Mekong  once  more  expanded  as  the 
explorers  won  free  from  the  mountainous  zone  through 
which  for  so  many  miles  they  had  been  following  it. 

For  some  time  the  Frenchmen  had  been  greatly  per- 
turbed by  rumours  of  a party  of  English  explorers,  some 
forty  strong,  which  was  said  to  have  cut  in  above  them 
from  Burma.  So  far  the  members  of  de  Lagree’s  expe- 
dition had  been  passing,  for  the  most  part,  through 


UBON  TO  LUANG  PRABANG  201 


country  which,  though  it  had  not  been  examined  in  de- 
tail,  had  already  been  visited  by  Europeans.  In  only  a 
few  places  had  they  been  able  to  look  around  them  with 
that  peculiar  pride  and  triumph  which  belong  to  the 
white  man  who  knows  that  for  him  has  been  reserved 
from  the  beginning  the  tremendous  privilege  of  gazing, 
the  first  of  all  his  kind,  upon  scenes  never  beheld  before 
by  European  eyes.  That  joy  of  joys  to  one  bitten  by  the 
love  of  wandering  was  to  be  theirs  when  they  should  win 
free  at  last  of  the  places  over  which  their  fellows  had 
scored  a trail;  but  if  an  English  expedition  of  imposing 
numbers,  and  presumably  far  better  equipped  than  them- 
selves, had  slipped  in  ahead  of  them,  this  experience  was 
like  to  be  indefinitely  postponed.  They  never  dreamed  of 
questioning  the  accuracy  of  the  report : it  was  felt  to  be 
vraisemblable,  to  be  completely  in  keeping  with  the 
ubiquitous  character,  the  unblushing  intrusiveness  of  the 
Englishman.  They  could  only  set  their  teeth  and  de- 
termine to  die  rather  than  to  suffer  themselves  to  be  out- 
done, while  they  said  bitter  things  of  England  and  of  Fate, 
and  Garnier’s  anglophobia  revived  of  a sudden  with  some- 
thing of  its  old  passionate  force.  Intense  therefore  was 
their  relief  when,  shortly  after  leaving  Chieng  Kang,  they 
met  three  rafts  journeying  down -stream,  on  board  one  of 
which  was  a Dutchman,  named  Duyshart,  a surveyor  in 
the  employ  of  the  Siamese  Government,  who  turned  out 
to  be  the  egg  from  which,  through  the  incubation  of  the 
native  imagination,  this  monstrous  canard  had  been 
hatched.  This  man,  the  record  of  whose  journey  and 
surveys  seems  to  have  been  engulfed  in  the  files  of  one 


202 


FURTHER  INDIA 


of  the  Government  Departments  at  Bangkok,  had 
ascended  the  Menam  to  Chieng  Mai,  had  thence  struck 
across  country  to  the  Mekong,  striking  it  at  Chieng  Khong, 
about  130  miles  above  Luang  Prabang,  and  had  rafted 
down  the  river  from  that  point.  This  prolonged  the  dis- 
tance which  the  Frenchmen  would  have  to  cover  before 
they  could  pass  into  utterly  unexplored  country,  but  this 
fact  notwithstanding,  the  transformation  of  an  English 
expedition  into  a single  Dutchman  raised  their  spirits  and 
sent  them  on  their  way  rejoicing. 

On  April  16th,  the  boundary  of  the  province  of  Luang 
Prabang  was  crossed,  and  on  the  morrow  Pak  Lai,  which 
had  previously  been  visited  by  Mouhot  who  had  come 
thither  from  Muong  Lui,  was  reached.  This  was  the 
first  point  on  the  Mekong  at  which  Mouhot’s  route  had 
been  cut  by  that  of  the  expedition,  and  Gamier  found 
that  the  former  explorer  had  misplaced  it  by  sixty-four 
geographical  miles,  an  error  which  repeated  itself  with 
more  or  less  persistency  in  all  his  latitudes.  The  correc- 
tion which  Gamier  was  now  able  to  make  was  one  of 
considerable  importance,  and  necessitated  a material 
rectification  of  the  maps  compiled  from  Mouhot’s  notes. 
From  Pak  Lai  there  is  a cart-track  along  the  right  bank 
of  the  Mekong,  now  little  used  but  formerly  a highway 
over  which  annual  Chinese  caravans  passed  from  Yun-nan 
to  Ken  Tao,  a province  between  Muong  Lui  and  Pak  Lai. 
To-day  Chieng  Mai  and  Muong  Nan  communicate  with 
Yun-nan  via  Chieng  Tong,  the  route  partially  explored 
by  McLeod  in  1837. 

Some  distance  above  Pak  Lai  the  expedition  passed 


UBON  TO  LUANG  PRABANG  203 


through  uninhabited  forest  country,  where  the  river  is 
obstructed  by  rapids  every  few  miles ; above  this  stretch 
the  stream  flowed  for  some  distance  between  magnificent 
marble  cliffs,  while  limestone  bluffs  reappeared  on  its 
banks.  The  rapid  of  Keng  Luong  necessitated  the  un- 
loading of  the  boats,  and  this  operation  had  to  be  re- 
peated at  Keng  Saniok.  At  Ban  Koksai,  a Laotine 
village,  the  hills  in  the  vicinity  were  found  to  be  peopled 
by  the  wild  tribes  called  Khmus,  whose  numbers  and 
spirit  have  enabled  them  to  occupy  towards  their  more 
civilised  neighbours  a position  vastly  superior  to  that  of 
most  of  the  hill-folk  of  southeastern  Asia.  These  wild 
folk  are,  as  it  were,  the  rats  of  humanity,  but  while  the 
Khas  of  lower  Laos  and  the  Sakai  of  the  Malay  Penin- 
sula are  the  timid  and  defenceless  water-rats,  the  Khmus 
may  be  likened  to  the  old,  grey,  English  house-rat,  and 
have  like  him  an  excellent  notion  of  how  to  stick  up  for 
themselves. 

On  April  29th,  Luang  Prabang  was  reached,  the  larg- 
est town  which  the  Frenchmen  had  met  with  since  their 
departure  from  Cochin-China.  Gamier  estimated  the 
population  of  this  place  at  8,000  souls ; that  of  the  prov- 
ince at  not  less  than  150,000.  It  owed  its  prosperity 
partly  to  the  fall  of  Vien  Chan,  when  Luang  Prabang 
stood  neutral,  and  partly  to  the  fact  that  it  alone  among 
the  States  of  Laos  had  fallen  less  effectually  than  any  of 
its  neighbours  under  the  yoke  of  Bangkok.  Founded  in 
the  eighteenth  century,  it  did  not  come  into  prominence 
until  after  the  decline  of  the  power  of  Vien  Chan,  and  its 
prudent  rulers  were  content  with  a much-tempered  form 


204 


FURTHER  INDIA 


of  independence,  paying  tribute  to  China  and  Annam  as 
well  as  to  Siam.  The  result  of  this  policy  is  that,  after 
all  the  vicissitudes  which  have  befallen  its  neighbours, 
Luang  Prabang  remained  the  most  important  trade-centre 
of  the  Mekong  Valley  above  Cochin-China,  and  this  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  it  does  not  possess  natural  advan- 
tages equal  to  those  of  lower  Laos. 

Although,  even  when  continuing  their  ascent  of  the 
Mekong  above  Luang  Prabang,  the  travellers  were  not 
yet  traversing  country  never  previously  visited  by  white 
men,  their  arrival  at  this,  the  last  and  greatest  of  the 
towns  of  Siamese  Laos,  presents  a convenient  opportu- 
nity for  taking  a rapid  glance  at  the  explorations  which 
had  been  effected  in  the  Hinterland  of  Indo-China  by 
Europeans  prior  to  the  coming  of  the  French  mission. 

The  earliest  of  these  was  undertaken  by  the  Dutch 
traders  led  by  Gerard  van  Wusthof1  in  1641,  of  which 
frequent  mention  has  already  incidentally  been  made. 
The  account  of  it  was  originally  published  in  Flemish, 
nor  was  it  rendered  into  any  other  tongue  until  M.  P. 
Vcelkel  translated  it  for  Francis  Gamier,  who  printed  it 
with  his  own  notes  in  the  Bulletin  de  la  Societ'e  de  Geo- 
graphie  in  1871.  This  has  caused  the  narrative  which 
tells  of  the  first  visit  paid  to  Laos  by  white  men  to  be 
very  generally  overlooked,  nor  indeed  is  the  relation  it- 
self of  any  extraordinary  interest  from  a geographical  or 
even  from  an  historical  point  of  view.  It  appears  that  in 
March,  1641,  certain  Laotine  merchants  visited  Batavia 
1 Vide  Supra,  pp.  93,  et  seq. 


UBON  TO  LUANG  PRABANG  205 


on  board  one  of  the  Dutch  Company’s  ships,  and  that 
their  coming  suggested  to  the  Governor,  Van  Dieman, 
the  idea  of  despatching  a mission  to  their  country  for  the 
purpose  of  establishing  trade  relations  with  its  inhabit- 
ants. For  this  duty  Gerard  van  Wusthof,  a sub-factor, 
was  selected,  the  party  under  his  leadership  consisting 
of  four  Dutchmen,  a servant,  and  one  Malay.  A 
start  up  the  Mekong  was  made  on  July  20th,  1641 ; the 
party  travelled  by  boat,  and  Sambor  was  reached  on 
August  5.  Boetzong,  which  may  be  identified  with 
Stung-Treng,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Se-Kong,  was  reached 
on  August  17th,1  and  when  on  the  19th  the  party  found 
itself  among  the  maze  of  islands  which  here  divide  the 
river  into  many  branches,  Wusthof  believed  that  he  had 
left  upon  his  west  the  mouth  of  a huge  stream  which 
took  its  rise  in  Burma.  How  this  mistake  arose  it  is  im- 
possible to  understand,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that 
long  after  Wusthof ’s  day  the  belief  prevailed  that  the  Me- 
kong took  its  rise  close  to  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  while  even 
later  the  theory  was  entertained  that  the  Mekong  and  the 
Menam  were  joined  together  in  the  interior  by  a water- 
way was  widely  accepted.  Earlier  still  it  was  thought  that 
the  Mekong  had  an  out-flow  in  the  Bay  of  Bengal  itself. 

On  August  25th  an  island  was  reached,  called  by 
Wusthof  Saxenham,  which  would  appear  to  be  the 
island  of  Sitandong,  to  this  day  an  important  place, 
situated  above  the  Khon  rapids.  On  September  25th, 
Ocmum — obviously  Pak  Mun,  the  mouth  of  the  Mun 
River, — was  reached,  the  country  above  Khong  being 
1 Vide  Supra,  p.  123. 


2o6 


FURTHER  INDIA 


wilder  and  less  thickly  populated  than  Gamier  afterwards 
found  it.  On  October  1 8th,  the  party  spent  the  night 
at  Lochan,  which  is  probably  to  be  identified  with  Lakon. 
“ The  Laos-folk,”  says  Wusthof,  “ regard  Lochan  as  a 
great  town,  although  it  is  no  bigger  than  Harderwijk. 
We  walked  in  the  streets  by  the  light  of  the  moon.  . . . 
This  town  is  quite  the  most  dreadfully  pagan  place  there 
is  in  the  world ; ” for  the  worthy  Dutchman  was  horrified 
at  the  behaviour  of  his  native  companions,  though  he 
adds  characteristically,  “ Much  gold  is  found  here  at  a 
cheap  price.” 

On  the  night  of  November  3rd,  orders  were  received 
from  the  capital  that  the  mission  was  to  halt  at  a mile 
from  the  town  of  Vien  Chan  (Wincian,  Wusthof  calls  it), 
and  on  the  morning  of  the  16th,  the  party  was  conveyed 
on  elephants  to  the  temple  without  the  city,  to  which  it  is 
joined  by  an  avenue  of  trees ; in  this  temple  the  audience 
with  the  King  of  Vien  Chan  was  to  be  given  to  them. 
The  King  treated  them  with  kindness.  Wusthof  himself, 
whose  term  of  service  with  the  Company  was  near  its  ex- 
piration, obtained  permission  to  depart  alone  on  his  re- 
turn journey,  and  after  some  delay  he  was  able  to  set 
forth,  charged  with  certain  pacific  messages  from  the 
King  of  Vien  Chan  to  the  Court  of  Kambodia,  which  he 
undertook  to  deliver. 

Here  his  individual  narrative  is  interrupted  by  a de- 
scription of  the  Kingdom  of  Laos.  From  this  it  may  be 
gathered  that  Wusthof ’s  notions  of  the  geography  of  the 
country  were  vague  and  inaccurate,  and  that  his  under- 
standing of  the  teachings  of  Buddhism  was  even  less  ex- 


UBON  TO  LUANG  PRABANG  207 


act.  It  shows  us,  however,  that  at  this  period  the  King- 
dom whose  capital  was  Vien  Chan  was  one  of  considera- 
ble power  and  importance : that  it  reckoned  itself,  and 
was  reckoned  by  its  neighbours,  to  stand  on  an  equal 
footing  with  Siam,  with  Kambodia  and  with  Tongking  ; 
that  it  was  rich  and  prosperous ; and  that  it  was  distin- 
guished then,  as  now,  by  the  religious  zeal  of  its  people 
which  manifests  itself  in  the  number  and  the  beauty  of 
the  temples,  pagodas  and  pyramids  scattered  through  the 
country,  and  in  the  immense  influence  exerted  over  them 
by  the  innumerable  bonzes  who  make  it  their  business  to 
live  by  the  gospel  and  upon  the  faithful. 

On  December  14th,  Wusthof’s  comrades,  left  behind  at 
Vien  Chan,  did  not  receive  their  permission  to  depart  until 
August  1 1 th,  nearly  nine  months  after  their  first  audience 
with  the  King,  a characteristically  inaccessible  Oriental 
monarch  of  whom  they  do  not  appear  to  have  sub- 
sequently seen  anything. 

The  Dutchmen  reached  Bassak  on  the  17th,  Septem- 
ber, at  which  point  their  narrative  ends. 

The  Dutch  merchants  also  mention  that  during  their 
stay  at  Vien  Chan  a “ Portuguese  ” priest  named  Leria 
visited  the  capital  and  tried  unsuccessfully  to  obtain  per- 
mission to  preach  Christianity  to  the  pagan  population. 
This  man  was  not  in  truth  a Portuguese,  being  a native 
of  Piedmont.  He  was  a Jesuit,  and  his  full  name  was 
Giovanni  Maria  Leria.  To  him  belongs  the  distinction 
of  being,  not  only  the  first,  but  up  to  the  latter  half  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  the  only  Christian  priest  who  had 
endeavoured  to  spread  his  religion  through  the  Laos 


208 


FURTHER  INDIA 


country.  He  met  with  tremendous  opposition  from  the 
bonzes,  but  in  spite  of  this  continued  to  reside  in  Laos 
for  five  years,  and  did  not  leave  Vien  Chan  till  Decem- 
ber, 1647. 

The  next  traveller,  with  whose  journeys  in  Indo-China 
we  need  concern  ourselves,  is  Henri  Mouhot,  of  whom 
mention  has  already  been  made  in  connection  with  the 
Khmer  ruins  at  Angkor.1  A native  of  France,  brought 
up  in  that  country,  he  had  resided  successively  in  Russia, 
in  England  and  at  Jersey:  by  profession  a photographer 
in  the  days  when  photography  was  a new  art,  he  had 
cultivated  his  taste  for  natural  history,  devoting  himself 
particularly  to  ornithology  and  conchology.  In  1858  he 
went  out  to  Siam  on  a mission  which  received  practical 
encouragement  from  the  learned  societies  of  England  and 
France,  his  object  being  to  explore  the  little  known  coun- 
tries of  Indo-China  and  to  examine  the  problems  of  their 
ethnology,  and  their  flora  and  fauna.  Making  his  head- 
quarters at  Bangkok,  he  first  ascended  the  Menam  to 
Ayuthia,  the  ancient  capital  of  Saam,  and  paid  a visit  to 
the  famous  temple  of  Prabat  Moi,  which  he  describes  as 
having  about  it  little  that  is  remarkable.  Its  chief  dis- 
tinction, however,  and  the  fact  which  makes  it  celebrated 
and  holy  throughout  Indo-China,  is  the  footprint  pre- 
served in  its  sanctuary  which  is  piously  believed  by  the 
faithful  to  be  that  of  Buddha  himself. 

After  visiting  Saraburi  and  ascending  the  Menam  to 


1 Vide  supra,  pp.  149,  150. 


UBON  TO  LUANG  PRABANG  209 


Pak  Priau,  above  which  point  the  navigation  of  the  river 
becomes  more  difficult  owing  to  the  number  and  the  size 
of  the  rapids,  he  walked  to  Petawi  for  the  purpose  of  vis- 
iting another  famous  pagoda. 

Mouhot  subsequently  returned  down  river  to  Bangkok, 
whence  he  travelled  by  Chinese  junk  to  Chantabun,  ex- 
ploring the  islands  lying  off  the  coast  and  later  the  coun- 
try in  the  vicinity  of  his  new  headquarters.  He  also 
made  a short  journey  into  the  neighbouring  province  of 
Batambang,  and  on  his  return  travelled  down  the  coast 
to  Komput,  in  Kambodian  territory.  He  visited  Udong, 
the  then  capital  of  Kambodia,  made  a short  stay  at 
Pnom  Penh,  the  present  capital,  and  passing  over  the 
border  into  Annam  spent  three  months  among  the  wild 
tribes  called  Stiens,  who  occupy  the  Brelam  country. 
After  this  he  returned  once  more  to  Udong,  ascended  the 
branch  of  the  Great  Lake  which  joins  the  Mekong  at 
Pnom  Penh,  and  explored  in  detail  the  immense  Khmer 
ruins  of  Angkor,  which  he  was  the  first  European  to  de- 
scribe minutely  and  with  some  pretence  to  scientific  ac- 
curacy. This  work  accomplished,  he  passed  a period  of 
four  months  in  the  mountainous  country  of  Pechaburi, 
thence  returning  overland  to  Bangkok,  examining  by  the 
way  some  of  the  Khmer  ruins  in  the  province  of  Batam- 
bang. 

During  all  these  wanderings  Mouhot  had  broken  little 
new  ground,  for  almost  everywhere  the  ubiquitous  Roman 
Catholic  missionaries,  Frenchmen  of  the  wonderful 
Societe  des  Missions  Etrang'eres,  had  been  before  him ; 
but  on  his  return  to  Bangkok  he  set  about  making  prep- 


210 


FURTHER  INDIA 


arations  for  his  last  and  most  important  journey.  It  is  at 
this  point  that  Mouhot’s  travels  begin  to  assume  such 
geographical  value  as  can  be  claimed  for  them. 

Proceeding  up  the  Menam,  he  struck  across  country  to 
Korat,  and  thence  to  Chaipun,  where  he  arrived  at  the 
end  of  February,  1 86 1 . The  governor  of  this  place 
showed  little  inclination  to  assist  him,  and  Mouhot  found 
himself  obliged  to  retrace  his  steps  to  Korat,  the  governor 
of  which  was  more  courteous  and  more  amenable. 
With  the  transport  here  obtained,  and  armed  with 
letters  of  introduction  from  the  friendly  governor,  he  set 
out  once  more  to  Chaipun.  From  this  point  he  pushed 
on  in  a northerly  direction  to  Muong  Lui,  and  thence  to 
Pak  Lai,1  the  place  at  which  he  first  struck  the  upper 
reaches  of  the  Mekong,  a river  whose  acquaintance  he 
had  already  made  from  Pnom  Penh  to  its  mouth. 

Even  after  he  had  reached  the  banks  of  the  Mekong, 
Mouhot  continued  to  travel,  not  by  boat,  but  by  bullock- 
waggon,  following  the  trade-track  along  the  right  bank 
of  the  river.  The  arduous  and  difficult  journey  which  he 
had  accomplished  had  already  tried  him  sorely,  and 
Mouhot’s  journals  show  at  this  period  unmistakable  signs 
of  acute  mental  depression.  His  instruments,  in  the 
rough  journey  across  country,  appear  to  have  fared  no  bet- 
ter than  their  master,  and  an  examination  of  the  map  filled 
in  from  his  notes,  which  was  the  best  information  on  the 
subject  of  upper  Laos  available  prior  to  the  de  Lagree- 
Garnier  expedition,  shows  that  he  had  fallen  into  gross 
errors  both  in  distance  and  in  direction.  The  value  of 


1 Vide  supra,  p.  202. 


UBON  TO  LUANG  PRABANG  21 1 


the  work  which  he  had  achieved  at  the  cost  of  so  much 
labour  and  pain  was  further  depreciated  by  the  fact  that 
Mouhot  did  not  survive  to  correct  and  explain  the  notes 
which  he  had  made,  and  it  is  possible  that  some  of  the 
errors  which  resulted  were  due  to  misinterpretation  of 
his  memoranda. 

Luang  Prabang  itself  was  reached  on  July  25th,  and 
after  some  sojourn  in  the  place  and  an  interview  with  its 
king,  Mouhot  started  to  explore  the  country  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Mekong.  On  October  15th,  his  diary  shows, 
he  started  on  his  return- journey  to  Luang  Prabang.  On 
the  19th,  he  notes  that  he  is  stricken  down  by  fever,  and 
ten  days  later  comes  the  last  pitiful  entry,  the  voice  of 
one  crying  in  the  wilderness,  the  despairing  appeal  of  the 
lonely  white  man,  far  from  aid  and  home  and  comfort, 
dying  among  aliens  in  a distant  land : 

“ Octobre  2pme. — Ayes  pitie  de  moi,  O mon  Dien!  ” 

Was  ever  the  outcry  of  a human  soul  concentrated 
more  pathetically  into  a single  phrase? 

Five  years  later  his  countrymen  found  his  grave  in 
mid-forest  near  the  little  village  of  Ban  Naphao,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Nam  Kan,  at  a short  distance  from  Luang 
Prabang,  and  over  it  they  reared  a simple  monument. 
The  spot  where  the  dead  explorer  lies  is  finely  described 
by  Francis  Gamier,  and  I quote  his  words  here  as  in  the 
original.  Translation  could  only  mar  a passage  whose 
beauty,  if  it  stood  alone  instead  of  being  but  one  of  many 
striking  pieces  of  word-painting,  would  serve  to  prove 
that  Francis  Gamier,  the  man  of  action,  united  to  his 
other  great  qualities  those  of  the  literary  artist. 


212 


FURTHER  INDIA 


“ Le  paysage  qui  encadre  le  mausolee  est  gracieux  et 
triste  a la  fois : quelques  arbres  au  feuillage  sombre 
l’abritent,  et  le  bruissement  de  leur  cimes  se  mele  au 
grondement  des  eaux  du  Nam  Kan  qui  coule  a leur  pieds. 
En  face  s’eleve  un  mur  de  roches  noiratres  qui  forme 
l’autre  rive  du  torrent : nulle  habitation,  nulle  trace  hu- 
maine  aux  alentours  de  la  derniere  demeure  de  ce  Fran- 
qais  aventureux,  qui  a prefere  l’agitation  des  voyages  et 
l’etude  directe  de  la  nature,  au  calme  du  foyer  et  a la 
science  des  livres.  Seule  parfois  une  pirogue  legere 
passera  devant  ce  lieu  de  repos,  et  le  batelier  laotien 
regardera  avec  respect,  peut-etre  avec  effroi,  ce  souvenir 
a la  fois  triste  et  touchant  du  passage  d’etrangers  dans 
son  pays. 

“ Nous  nous  etions  rendus  au  lieu  de  la  sepulture  en 
suivant  a pied  les  bords  du  Nam  Kan ; nous  revinmes  en 
barque  a la  fin  du  jour,  en  nous  laissant  aller  au  fil  du 
courant.  A chaque  detour  de  la  riviere,  nous  decou- 
vrions,  sous  les  aspects  les  plus  divers,  le  panorama 
anime  de  Luang  Prabang,  apparaissant  et  disparaissant 
tour  a tour  derriere  le  rideau  mobile  des  arbres  de  la 
rive ; de  nombreux  pecheurs  tendaient  leurs  filets  au 
milieu  des  rochers  et  j usque  dans  les  rapides  que  nos 
legeres  pirogues  franchissaient  comme  des  fleches ; des 
troupes  de  baigneurs  et  de  baigneuses  folatraient  pres 
des  bancs  de  sable  qui  parfois  elargissaient  le  lit  de  la 
riviere.  Autour  de  nous,  le  soleil  couchant  faisait  etin- 
celer  les  eaux  de  mille  reflets  de  pourpre  et  d'or.  Tout 
dans  ce  paysage,  sans  cesse  renouvele  par  la  rapidite  de 
notre  locomotion,  respirait  une  tranquillite  et  un  bonheur 
apparents  qui  invitaient  a l’oubli  du  monde  bruyant  et 


UBON  TO  LUANG  PRABANG  213 


agite  dont  le  souvenir  bouillonnait  encore  en  nous.  Quel 
contraste  entre  ce  calme  tableau  du  Laos  tropical  et  cette 
Europe,  dont  le  nom  meme  etait  inconnu  a ceux  qui  nous 
entouraient?  Devions-nous  les  plaindre  ou  les  feliciter 
de  leur  ignorance  et  de  leur  sauvagerie?  Plus  encore 
que  la  distance,  ces  differences  entre  la  civilisation  pour 
la  cause  de  laquelle  nous  nous  etions  exiles,  et  la  civilisa- 
tion dont  nous  etions  devenus  les  hotes,  nous  semblaient 
creuser  entre  nous  et  notre  patrie  un  abime  chaque  jour 
plus  grand.” 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  Dutchman 
Duyshart,*  whose  surveying  expedition  undertaken  at 
the  behest  of  the  Siamese  Government  had  been  magni- 
fied by  native  rumour  into  a wholesale  invasion  of  upper 
Laos  by  the  scientists  of  Great  Britain.  The  fact  that 
no  detailed  account  of  his  journey  appears  to  have  been 
published  leaves  the  nature  of  his  discoveries  somewhat 
vague.  He  seems,  however,  to  have  ascended  the  Menam 
from  Bangkok  to  the  mouth  of  its  western  branch,  the 
Me-ping,  and  that  river  to  Chieng  Mai,  whence  he 
trekked  across  country,  striking  the  Mekong  at  Chieng 
Kong,  a point  some  225  miles  above  Luang  Prabang.  It 
had  thus  fallen  to  the  lot  of  this  obscure  Dutchman  to 
be,  so  far  as  is  known,  the  first  white  man  to  traverse 
the  country  lying  between  Chieng  Mai  and  Chieng  Kong, 
and  without  doubt  the  first  to  descend  and  survey  the 
portion  of  the  Mekong  which  lies  southward  of  that 
point  and  between  it  and  Luang  Prabang.  More  than 
this  we  do  not  know  concerning  Duyshart’s  work,  but 


*Vide  supra,  p.  201. 


214 


FURTHER  INDIA 


it  is  possible  that  his  papers  may  have  been  disinterred 
from  the  pigeon-holes  in  Bangkok  and  have  been  utilised 
by  Mr.  J.  M’Carthy  in  the  preparation  of  the  great  map 
of  Siam  published  by  the  Royal  Geographical  Society, 
which  is  so  largely  the  fruit  of  his  own  surveys  and  ex- 
plorations extending  over  a period  of  more  than  twenty 
years. 

The  last,  and  in  some  respects  the  most  important,  of 
the  travellers  whose  work,  since  it  joins  that  of  the  de 
Lagree-Garnier  expedition,  calls  for  notice  in  this  place, 
is  the  Scotsman,  Captain,  afterwards  Major  General,  Mc- 
Leod. As  his  starting-point  was  Maulmain,  his  journey 
belongs  properly  to  the  story  of  Burman  exploration, 
with  which  we  shall  presently  deal  in  a separate  chapter, 
but  the  more  important  part  of  his  achievement  having 
been  connected  with  the  Shan  States  of  Chieng  Tong 
and  Chieng  Hong,  and  with  his  visit  to  the  Mekong  at 
the  last  named  place,  he  is  to  be  regarded  in  a special 
manner  as  the  forerunner  of  the  French  mission,  where- 
fore it  will  be  more  convenient  to  study  his  route  now 
than  later. 

McLeod  started  from  Maulmain  on  December  13, 
1836,  in  the  company  of  Dr.  Richardson,  who  had 
already  thrice  visited  Chieng  Mai  from  lower  Burma. 
On  the  present  occasion  Richardson  was  bound  for  Ava, 
whither  he  eventually  made  his  way  through  the  hill 
country  of  the  Red  Karins,  while  McLeod’s  immediate 
objective  was  Chieng  Mai,  whence  he  hoped  to  make  a 
journey  to  Yun-nan  through  the  eastern  Shan  States 
tributary  to  Ava.  The  travellers  ascended  the  Gyne 


UBON  TO  LUANG  PRABANG  215 


River  in  boats,  reaching  the  last  village  in  British  terri- 
tory on  the  1 6th  December.  From  this  point  they  pro- 
ceeded northward  on  elephant-back,  crossing  the  Siamese 
boundary  on  Christmas  Day,  and  parting  company  on 
the  26th,  Richardson  continuing  his  journey  in  a westerly 
direction  to  Mein-lung-hi,  while  McLeod  headed  for 
Muong  Haut,  or  Muong  Hal,  by  a route  somewhat  to  the 
south  of  that  followed  by  Richardson  in  his  previous 
journeys  to  Chieng  Mai.  McLeod’s  path  led  into  the 
valley  of  the  Tsen-tsue,  a tributary  of  the  Salwin,  and 
thence  through  the  mountains  to  Muong  Haut  on  the 
Me-ping,  the  river  upon  the  banks  of  which  Chieng  Mai 
stands.  On  January  9,  1837,  he  reached  Muong  Lam- 
pun,  or  Labong  as  it  was  always  called  by  the  explorers 
from  Burma,  and  after  a sojourn  of  three  days  in  that 
place  passed  on  to  “ Zimme  ” (Chieng  Mai),  where  he 
remained  over  a fortnight,  the  local  authorities  endeav- 
ouring to  prevent  him  from  proceeding  upon  his  jour- 
ney. The  explorer,  however,  had  satisfied  himself  that 
the  road  leading  to  Chieng  Tong  was  the  only  one  which 
was  of  any  importance  for  merchants  bound  for  Yun- 
nan, and  he  therefore  turned  a deaf  ear  to  the  persuasions 
of  the  rulers  of  Chieng  Mai  and  determined  to  travel  by 
that  route  and  by  no  other.  At  last  on  January  29th, 
accompanied  by  some  Shan  officers  sent  to  escort  him,  he 
left  Chieng  Mai  with  six  elephants,  and  on  February 
6th  reached  the  village  of  Puk  Bong  on  the  frontier  of 
Chieng  Mai  territory,  whence  the  road  to  Chieng  Tong 
branches  off.  The  first  village  under  Chieng  Tong  juris- 
diction was  reached  on  February  13th,  and  thirteen  days 
later  McLeod  entered  Chieng  Tong  itself,  all  the  country 


2i6  FURTHER  INDIA 

from  Chieng  Mai  having  never  previously  been  traversed 
by  a white  man.  The  traveller  had  made  a survey  of  his 
route,  and  he  fixed  the  latitude  of  Chieng  Tong  at  21° 
47'  48"  N.,  and  the  longitude  at  about  990  39'  E.  His 
latitudes. were  very  fairly  exact,  as  he  was  able  to  deter- 
mine them  by  astronomical  observations,  but  his  longi- 
tudes were  confessedly  only  approximately  accurate. 

At  Chieng  Tong  McLeod  was  well  received  by  the 
Shan  king  of  the  place.  Although  incidentally  he  was 
doing  geographical  work  of  great  value,  his  mission 
had  as  its  primary  object  the  establishment  of  trade 
between  Maulmain  and  the  Burmese  Shan  States.  He 
had  from  the  first  been  accompanied  by  a number  of 
merchants  who  had  brought  with  them  British  goods  for 
sale  in  the  local  markets,  and  for  these  there  was  so 
great  a demand  in  Chieng  Tong  that  the  traders  decided 
that  it  would  be  unnecessary  for  them  to  go  any  farther 
with  their  leader  and  protector.  McLeod,  however,  was 
bent  upon  penetrating  into  Yun-nan  if  that  could  by  any 
means  be  done ; he  therefore  bought  some  ponies  for 
the  journey,  and  at  last  persuaded  the  King  of  Chieng 
Tong  to  suffer  him  to  depart.  With  this  potentate  the 
Scotsman  succeeded  in  establishing  most  friendly  rela- 
tions, and  it  is  pleasant  to  recall  that  when  de  Lagree 
and  Thorel  visited  the  place  thirty  years  later,  they  found 
McLeod’s  memory  still  green,  and  the  King  ready  to  aid 
any  white  man  for  the  sake  of  the  friend  whom  he  re- 
membered with  so  much  affection. 

McLeod  left  Chieng  Tong  on  March  1st,  and  passing 
through  Muong  La,  reached  Chieng  Hong  on  March  9th. 
He  here  struck  the  Mekong  at  a point  farther  from  the 


UBON  TO  LUANG  PRABANG  217 


coast  than  any  at  which  it  had  previously  been  visited  by 
a white  man,  and  it  should  be  noted  that  the  de  Lagree- 
Garnier  expedition,  which  had  for  its  primary  object  the 
exploration  of  the  course  of  the  great  river,  never  suc- 
ceeded in  attaining  to  a point  above  that  reached  by  the 
Scotsman.  McLeod  estimated  the  average  width  of  the 
river  at  ioo  yards  at  the  season'  of  his  visit,  and  at  220 
yards  at  full  water,  its  rise  being  at  least  50  feet ; he 
judged  its  velocity  to  be  about  3 miles  an  hour.  He  re- 
mained at  Chieng  Hong  for  more  than  a fortnight  while 
the  authorities  in  Yun-nan  were  communicated  with,  but 
the  answer  to  his  request  to  be  permitted  to  proceed  was 
unfavourable.  He  was  told  that  if  he  desired  to  enter  the 
Celestial  Empire,  the  front  door,  so  to  speak,  was  at  Can- 
ton, a portal  through  which  all  foreigners  were  allowed 
to  pass  by  the  authorities  at  Peking,  and  that  backdoors, 
such  as  the  road  into  Yun-nan,  were  not  open  to  visitors. 
He  was  also  gravely  told  that  “ there  was  no  precedent  ” 
for  a foreign  official  coming  by  this  route,  and  as,  unlike 
the  French  travellers  who  later  walked  in  his  footsteps, 
he  had  not  been  furnished  with  letters  of  authority  from 
Peking,  he  had  no  choice  but  to  return  to  Burma.  Ac- 
cordingly on  March  26th  he  began  his  ride  back  to 
Chieng  Tong,  arriving  there  on  the  31st;  starting  again 
on  April  4th,  he  reached  Chieng  Mai  on  April  18th. 
Here  he  entered  into  long  discussions  with  the  King,  his 
object  being  to  get  the  road  to  Chieng  Tong  declared 
open  to  traffic  for  merchants  from  Maulmain,  but  in 
spite  of  the  friendly  nature  of  his  intercourse  with  the 
authorities*  he  failed  altogether  in  this  object. 

McLeod  fixed  the  latitude  and  longitude  of  Chieng  Mai 


2 l8 


FURTHER  INDIA 


at  1 8°  47'  N.  and  about  990  20'  E. ; he  collected  from  the 
natives  a considerable  amount  of  information  concerning 
the  neighbouring  States  of  Muong  Nam,  Muong  Phe 
and  Luang  Prabang;  and  when  he  left  Chieng  Mai  it 
was  by  a new  route,  the  high  road  to  Bangkok.  This 
runs  south  as  far  as  Pang  Nan  Dit,  then  south-west  to  the 
Me-ping,  which  river  McLeod  crossed  at  Ban  Nat.  Up  to 
this  point  the  way  had  been  through  flat  and  grassy  plains, 
but  the  Me-ping  once  crossed,  more  hilly  country  was 
entered,  though  only  one  really  big  hill  had  to  be 
climbed.  There  were  no  cart-tracks  here,  but  the  diffi- 
culties in  the  way  of  making  one  were  not  great,  and 
McLeod  cherished  the  hope  that  the  trade  with  Yun-nan 
might  be  tapped  by  this  route  and  the  Lakon  road. 
Nothing,  however,  resulted  from  this  suggestion.  Mc- 
Leod made  his  way  back  to  Maulmian  via  Kokarit  and 
Mikalon. 

I have  not  dealt  in  detail  with  this  traveller’s  descrip- 
tion of  the  Shan  States  through  which  he  was  the  first 
to  pass,  as  an  account  will  be  found  in  the  chapters  re- 
cording the  journey  of  the  French  mission.  It  should 
be  remembered,  however,  that  McLeod  was  the  first 
white  man  to  visit  and  map  these  regions. 

The  summary  which  has  now  been  given  of  early  ex- 
plorations in  the  Indo-Chinese  Hinterland  will  enable 
the  reader  to  understand  when  and  to  what  extent  the 
de  Lagree-Gamier  expedition  was  breaking  ground  en- 
tirely new,  and  when  and  to  what  extent  they  were 
stepping  in  the  footprints  of  others.  Even  when  the 
Frenchmen  were  not  the  first  in  the  field,  however,  the 
almost  unlimited  time  at  their  disposal  and  their  superior 


UBON  TO  LUANG  PRABANG  219 


scientific  equipment  rendered  it  possible  for  them  to 
achieve  valuable  geographical  results  such  as  had  never 
been  within  the  reach  of  their  predecessors,  to  many  of 
whom  commercial  advantage,  rather  than  abstract  know- 
ledge, had  been  the  primary  object  of  their  journeys. 


CHAPTER  X 


THE  SHAN  STATES  AND  YUN-NAN 

T Luang  Prabang,  in  spite  of  a certain  frigidity 


which  at  first  marked  the  relations  of  the  au- 


thorities with  his  party,  de  Lagree’s  tact  and 


firmness  speedily  succeeded  in  overcoming  the  prejudices 
of  the  natives.  He  obtained  an  audience  of  the  King  on 
conditions  honourable  to  himself,  and  was  well  treated 
in  the  matter  of  accommodation  and  provisions.  But  he 
found  the  opposition  raised  to  the  continuance  of  his 
journey  less  easy  to  remove.  The  Muhammadan  rebellion 
in  Yun-nan  had  been  the  signal  for  endless  disorders  in 
the  Shan  States  which  owed  allegiance  to  China,  and 
Luang  Prabang  had  seized  the  opportunity  thus  afforded 
to  omit  sending  the  customary  tribute,  the  contention 
of  its  authorities  being  that  the  roads  to  Yun-nan  were 
impassable.  It  was  therefore  against  their  interests  that 
a small  party  of  Europeans  should  penetrate  into  China 
and  so  demonstrate  the  thinness  of  this  pretext,  and 
much  was  made  of  the  difficulties  which  were  declared 
to  lie  ahead  of  the  explorers. 

Three  routes  were  open  to  de  Lagree’s  choice : firstly, 
that  which  led  up  the  valley  of  the  Mekong;  secondly, 
that  up  the  Nam  Hu,  a left  influent  of  the  great  river; 
and  lastly,  the  route  to  Kwang  Si,  which  traverses  coun- 
try inhabited  by  mixed  tribes  situated  between  China  and 
Tongking.  The  first  route  was  also  the  longest,  and  it 


220 


SHAN  STATES  AND  YUN-NAN  221 


had  further  the  disadvantage  of  running  through  districts 
which  had  been  devastated  while  their  ownership  was 
in  dispute  between  Burma  and  Siam ; it  moreover  led 
through  the  Shan  States  tributary  to  the  Court  of  Ava, 
from  which  the  explorers  had  obtained  no  letters  of  au- 
thority ; but  on  the  other  hand,  from  a geographical  and 
political  point  of  view  it  was  by  far  the  most  interesting. 
The  Nam  Hu  route  was  more  direct,  and  in  Yun-nan 
the  Mekong  River,  which  the  explorers  were  loath  to 
abandon,  would  again  be  struck ; otherwise,  however, 
it  presented  no  special  attractions.  The  Kwang  Si  route 
was  perhaps  the  most  difficult  of  all,  for  the  King  of 
Luang  Prabang  was  at  that  moment  fighting  in  that 
region,  and  also  with  the  Annamites  on  the  east,  aid 
being  lent  to  him  by  Siam. 

The  large  number  of  merchants  from  all  parts  of 
Indo-China  found  in  the  markets  of  Luang  Prabang 
enabled  the  explorers  to  obtain  a considerable  amount  of 
information  concerning  the  various  routes,  and  de  La- 
gree  long  continued  to  be  strongly  biassed  in  favour  of 
that  z nd  the  Nam  Hu.  Gamier,  on  the  other  hand,  who 
confesses  that  he  was  obsessed  by  “ la  monomanie  du 
Mekong,”  pleaded  hard  that  his  beloved  river  should 
not  be  prematurely  abandoned.  In  the  end  he  succeeded 
in  persuading  his  chief  to  adopt  the  first  of  the  three 
routes,  and  de  Lagree  induced  the  King  of  Luang  Pra- 
bang to  provide  him  with  letters  of  authority  which 
should  pass  the  expedition  through  all  the  country  under 
his  control.  This  was  but  another  sign  of  the  excellent 
relations  which  the  Frenchmen  had  succeeded  in  estab- 
lishing with  the  natives ; indeed,  their  camp  had  become 


222 


FURTHER  INDIA 


the  fashionable  resort  of  the  elite  of  Luang  Prabang 
of  both  sexes.  It  was  somewhat  of  a blow  to  the  self- 
complacency  of  the  explorers  when  the  King’s  niece,  a 
buxom  young  damsel  whose  behaviour  had  been  most 
empresse,  volunteered  the  opinion  that  the  advanced  age 
of  the  visitors,  as  proved  by  their  flowing  beards,  ren- 
dered them  in  the  last  degree  innocuous,  and  made  the 
bare  idea  of  their  exciting  jealousy  in  the  breasts  of  the 
most  suspicious  altogether  farcical  and  absurd. 

The  baggage  of  the  expedition  was  now  lightened  as 
much  as  possible.  Already  the  first  rains  had  fallen,  and 
the  Mekong  was  coming  down  in  semi-spate ; but  fight- 
ing their  way  doggedly  against  the  current,  the  explorers 
reached  Chieng  Khong  on  June  5th.  Joubert  and  de 
Carne  were  sent  from  Ban  Tanun  to  explore  some 
“ volcanoes,”  which  were  reported  to  exist  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood, but  discovered  that  they  were  merely  fissures 
in  the  ground  emitting  volumes  of  sulphureous  and  other 
gaseous  vapours.  Gamier  took  a few  soundings  in  the 
Nam  Hu. 

The  character  of  the  Laotine  natives  inhabiting  these 
upper  reaches  of  the  Mekong  was  found  to  differ  mate- 
rially from  that  of  their  neighbours  in  lower  Laos.  The 
“ black-bellied  ” folk,  as  the  northern  Laotines  are  called 
on  account  of  the  tattooing  from  waist  to  knee  which 
they  practise,  are  somewhat  more  vigorous  in  body  and 
in  mind  than  the  “ white-bellied  ” men  of  the  south. 
They  are  more  independent,  more  proud,  more  self- 
respecting,  and  Gamier  declared  them  to  be  at  once  more 
frank  and  more  lively  than  the  people  of  lower  Laos, 
who  are  losing  little  by  little  all  that  remains  to  them 


SHAN  STATES  AND  YUN-NAN  223 


of  energy,  initiative,  and  resource.  Climate  has  doubt- 
less had  something  to  do  with  this,  the  constant  and 
enervating  heat  of  the  tropics  sapping  in  the  long  course 
of  centuries  the  energy  of  the  natives  of  Kambodia  and 
lower  Laos ; but  over  and  above  climatic  influence,  po- 
litical circumstances  must  be  taken  into  account.  Their 
own  decay  contributed  to  their  subjection  to  Siam,  but 
the  rule  of  any  Oriental  race  by  another,  and  especially 
the  rule  of  any  alien  people  by  the  cruel,  corrupt  and 
inefficient  officers  of  Siam,  inevitably  makes  for  the  de- 
struction of  all  that  is  best  in  the  character  of  the  subject 
people. 

From  Chieng  Khong  the  explorers  passed  up  river  to 
Chieng  Hsen,  a ruined  city  which  is  situated  some  three 
or  four  miles  above  the  junction  of  the  Nam  Kok  and 
the  Mekong.  Under  Thama  Trai  Pidok,  one  of  the  most 
famous  of  the  many  kings  who  ruled  over  a Laotine 
principality,  and  who  in  his  time  extended  his  conquests 
almost  to  Ayuthia,  this  place  throve  and  prospered 
mightily.  The  exact  period  covered  by  its  prosperity 
cannot  be  definitely  ascertained.  Chien  Hsen  itself  was 
finally  destroyed  by  the  Siamese  in  1774.  The  story  of 
the  numberless  kingdoms  of  Indo-China  has  never  yet 
been  fully  told.  What  knowledge  we  possess  of  it  is  in 
the  nature  of  fragments,  but  even  these  suffice  to  show 
the  welter  of  struggle  and  strife,  invasion,  attack  and 
defence,  travail  of  kingdoms  suddenly  reared  and  as 
suddenly  destroyed,  which  taken  together  make  up  the 
recorded  past  of  these  unhappy  lands.  The  end  of  their 
sufferings  is  not  yet,  but  one  cannot  rise  from  an  exam- 
ination of  their  history  without  a genuine  sense  of  satis- 


224 


FURTHER  INDIA 


faction  that  the  influence  of  France  on  the  one  side, 
and  of  Great  Britain  on  the  other,  has  done  much,  and 
in  the  future  will  do  more,  to  establish  lasting  peace 
among  these  troubled  and  contending  nations. 

Above  Chieng  Hsen  the  Mekong  was  found  once 
more  to  flow  through  a mountainous  region,  and  on 
June  1 8th  the  foot  of  a rapid  called  Tang  He  was 
reached,  an  insurmountable  barrier  past  which  it  was 
not  possible  to  carry  the  boats.  Messengers  were  sent 
forward  to  Muong  Lim,  a dependency  of  Chieng  Tong, 
to  obtain  transport,  and  Gamier,  loath  to  quit  the  river, 
tramped  alone  up  the  left  bank,  passing  through  un- 
touched forest  in  which  the  beasts  had  not  yet  learned 
to  fear  man,  a little  expedition  of  which  he  gives  an 
account  that  is  one  of  the  finest  passages  in  his  works. 

Muong  Lim,  standing  on  a plain,  was  reached  by  cross- 
ing two  small  ranges  of  hills,  and  in  these  days,  when 
it  has  become  the  fashion  to  decry  the  ingenuity  and  the 
enterprise  of  our  merchants,  it  is  gratifying  to  note  that 
the  admiration  of  the  Frenchmen  was  excited  by  the 
discovery  that  the  cottons  here  exposed  for  sale  were  all 
of  English  manufacture,  and  that  they  had  evidently 
been  woven  specially  with  a view  to  the  Burmese  and 
Shan  markets,  their  colours  being  those  most  popular 
among  the  natives,  and  the  designs  printed  upon  the 
stuffs  being  pagodas  and  other  objects  of  local  venera- 
tion. At  this  place,  too,  the  near  neighbourhood  of  China 
began  to  be  apparent.  Money  was  weighed,  for  instance, 
in  the  Chinese  fashion,  and  Chinese  as  well  as  Burmese 
weights  were  in  use.  The  confusion  thus  caused  was 
worse  confounded  by  the  practice,  almost  universal  in 


SHAN  STATES  AND  YUN-NAN  225 


the  East,  of  employing  two  separate  sets  of  scales — the 
one  with  very  light  weight,  for  selling,  the  other,  prepos- 
terously heavy,  for  buying!  The  wild  tribes  encountered 
at  Muong  Lim,  called  Mu  Tseu,  Colonel  Yule  believed 
to  be  identical  with  the  Miao-Tseu,  people  of  Caucasian 
origin  inhabiting  some  districts  of  southern  China,  who 
almost  alone  afford  an  example  of  a race  which  has  had 
sufficient  resistant  power  to  escape  assimilation  with  the 
Mongolian  element.  As  will  be  seen  from  the  illustra- 
tion here  reproduced  from  Garnier’s  book,  the  Mu  Tseu 
are  a Gipsy-looking  folk,  much  given  to  personal  adorn- 
ment with  silver  ornaments  and  tinsel.  In  appearance 
and  costume  they  resemble  curiously  the  Kadayan  tribes 
of  western  Borneo. 

On  June  28th  leave  to  proceed  was  received  from 
“ the  King  of  Khemarata  and  of  Tungkaburi,”  as  his 
majesty  of  Chieng  Tong  styled  himself,  but  the  French- 
men were  warned  that  fresh  authority  would  be  needed 
before  they  could  visit  the  capital.  On  July  1st,  there- 
fore, a start  was  made,  the  objective  of  the  expedition 
being  Chieng  Hong.  The  health  of  the  party  had  of 
late  suffered  severely  owing  to  the  prevailing  rains,  both 
Gamier  and  Thorel  being  prostrated  by  fever,  while 
Delaporte  had  such  badly  ulcerated  feet  that  he  had  to 
be  carried  in  a litter.  The  resources  of  the  expedition 
were  also  becoming  perilously  slender,  and  a further 
reduction  of  baggage  to  save  cost  of  transport  was  de- 
cided upon.  It  is  impossible  not  to  admire  the  pluck, 
endurance  and  tenacity  displayed  at  this  juncture  by  the 
Frenchmen,  and  it  is  enormously  to  their  credit  that  the 
bare  notion  of  turning  back  or  of  abandoning  their  enter- 


226  FURTHER  INDIA 

prise  does  not  even  seem  to  have  been  mooted  among 
them. 

Paleo,  the  place  at  which  the  reduction  of  baggage 
was  made,  is  distant  only  two  miles  from  the  banks  of 
the  Mekong,  and  although  he  had  just  completed  a tramp 
of  five  hours’  duration  over  wooded  hills,  Gamier  was 
drawn  to  his  river  as  by  an  irresistible  magnet.  He 
found  the  left  bank  still  owing  allegiance  to  Siam, 
though  the  northern  boundary  lies  only  a few  miles 
higher  up.  The  river  was  flowing  down,  magnificent, 
imposing,  beautiful  as  ever,  but  as  a highway  of  trade 
it  had  ceased  to  be  used,  all  goods  being  transported 
overland  by  preference. 

On  July  9th,  after  tramping  over  hilly  country  cov- 
ered with  dense  forest,  broken  only  here  and  there  by  a 
few  cotton  plantations,  and  after  being  drenched  to  the 
skin  continually  by  heavy  showers,  the  explorers  reached 
Siam-Lao,  where  a halt  was  called  until  July  23rd.  Gar- 
nier,  indefatigable  as  ever,  paid  a visit  to  the  Mekong, 
which  he  found  still  quite  navigable,  and  in  this  district 
wild  tribes  called  the  Khas  Khos  and  the  Khas  Kuis  were 
met  with,  the  former  wearing  their  hair  in  pig-tails  and 
shaving  their  scalps,  the  latter  resembling  the  Burmans 
in  appearance  but  wearing  the  dress  of  the  Shans.  On 
July  1 6th  an  invitation  to  visit  Chieng  Tong  was  received 
from  the  King  of  that  place,  but  de  Lagree  decided  to 
decline  it,  and  two  days  later  letters  came  in  authorising 
the  party  to  proceed  to  Chieng  Kheng.  A long  day’s 
march  across  country  in  which  the  rivers  were  in  spate, 
the  tracks  submerged,  and  the  only  practicable  paths  so 
overgrown  through  disuse  as  to  present  formidable  diffi- 


SHAN  STATES  AND  YUN-NAN  227 


culties,  brought  the  explorers  to  Sop  Yong  on  the  banks 
of  the  Mekong,  of  which  river,  rolling  down  in  high 
flood,  glimpses  had  been  obtained  from  time  to  time 
throughout  the  tramp.  On  the  way  a hot  stream,  in 
which  the  mercury  registered  218.8°  F.,  was  discovered, 
and  the  Nam  Yong,  a large  and  beautiful  river  which 
joins  its  waters  to  those  of  the  Mekong  at  Sop  Yong, 
was  crossed  in  boats.  Sop  Yong  itself  was  a miserable 
little  village,  containing  only  four  houses,  and  proved 
to  be  quite  unequal  to  the  task  of  supplying  a new 
relay  of  bearers  or  even  a sufficiency  of  provisions. 
Accordingly  on  July  27th  Francis  Gamier,  filled  with 
joy  at  finding  himself  once  more  afloat  on  the  bosom 
of  his  beloved  river,  ascended  the  Mekong  in  a canoe 
for  the  purpose  of  enlisting  porters.  At  Nam  Kung  he 
fell  in  with  a Lu  headman  who,  for  one  of  his  race  and 
opportunities,  had  been  a great  traveller  in  his  day,  hav- 
ing actually  journeyed  to  the  sea  via  Tongking.  Through 
the  good  offices  of  this  man  a number  of  human  beasts 
of  burden  were  procured.  The  expedition  next  travelled 
up  the  valley  of  the  Nam  Yong,  reaching  Ban  Pasang, 
a cluster  of  villages  lying  in  the  centre  of  a rice  plain, 
on  August  1st.  The  province  of  Muong  Yu  had  now 
been  quitted  for  that  of  Muong  Yong,  which  is  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  Chieng  Tong,  and  to  Muong  Yong  itself 
the  party  proceeded  on  August  7th.  This  place,  situated 
in  the  foot-hills  to  the  west  of  the  Yong  valley,  was  a 
powerful  city  in  its  day.  It  is  girt  about  by  a moat  and 
wall,  within  which  the  ground  slopes  up  gradually  to  a 
pagoda.  The  Burmese  agent  stationed  at  Muong  Yong 
professed  to  be  friendly  to  the  visitors,  but  secretly  he 


228 


FURTHER  INDIA 


placed  many  obstacles  in  their  way,  and  eventually  de 
Lagree  found  it  necessary  to  go  in  person  to  Chieng 
Tong,  his  refusal  to  accept  the  invitation  sent  him  by 
the  King  of  that  city  having  proved  prejudicial  to  the 
interests  of  the  expedition.  Taking  Thorel  with  him,  he 
presently  started  on  this  mission,  leaving  the  rest  of  the 
party  at  Muong  Yong  with  fever  rampant  in  their  midst. 
Gamier  took  the  opportunity  thus  afforded  to  him  to 
examine  some  ruins  in  the  neighbourhood,  which  proved 
to  be  interesting  and  to  resemble  those  of  Angkor,  albeit 
they  are  inferior  to  the  great  Khmer  remains.  The  Tat, 
or  sacred  monument,  of  Chom  Yong  was  also  visited, 
and  was  found  to  be  older  than  the  ruins  of  Muong 
Yong,  while  the  tradition  of  Tevata  Nakhon — “ The 
Kingdom  of  the  Angels  ” — as  the  ancient  Khmer  empire 
is  called  in  Laos,  was  universally  cherished  by  the  learned 
classes  in  this  Shan  State. 

De  Lagree  and  Thorel  meanwhile  made  their  way  to 
Chieng  Tong  via  Muong  Khai,  traversing  country  mainly 
peopled  by  the  tribe  called  Doe,  whose  civilisation  is 
equal  to  that  of  the  Shans,  and  whom  Yule  believed  to 
be  merely  Shans  who  have  escaped  the  modifying  influ- 
ence of  Buddhism.  Chieng  Tong  was  reached  on  August 
23rd,  and  the  King  of  that  place  was  most  cordial,  his 
friendship  for  McLeod,  who  had  left  an  excellent  repu- 
tation behind  him,  predisposing  him  in  favour  of  Euro- 
peans. The  Burmese  agent,  on  the  other  hand,  who  had 
taken  great  umbrage  at  his  omission  from  the  list  of 
those  to  whom  de  Lagree  had  sent  presents,  did  his  best 
to  thwart  the  visitors,  and  it  was  not  until  September 
3rd  that  the  necessary  passports  were  forthcoming. 


SHAN  STATES  AND  YUN-NAN  229 


The  country  around  Chieng  Tong  and  Muong  Yong, 
in  common  with  most  of  the  Shan  States,  has  constantly 
been  in  dispute  between  its  more  powerful  neighbours, 
and  has  consequently  been  a battle-field  for  all.  At  the 
time  of  the  Frenchmen’s  visit,  though  Burmese  or  Siam- 
ese agents  were  stationed  in  each  Shan  State,  the  con- 
trol exercised  over  the  local  authorities  was  by  no  means 
as  complete  as  in  the  Laos  kingdoms  below  Luang 
Prabang. 

Chieng  Tong  at  this  time  was  built  upon  a cluster  of 
little  hills,  and  was  surrounded  by  a moat  and  wall  some 
seven  and  a half  miles  in  circumference.  The  palace  was 
a wooden  building  with  a tile  roof;  there  were  a score 
of  pagodas  in  the  place,  the  architecture  of  which  showed 
unmistakable  signs  of  Chinese  influence ; and  a remark- 
able Tat,  that  of  Chom  Sri,  stood  without  the  walls. 

Leaving  Chieng  Tong,  de  Lagree  and  Thorel  passed 
over  the  hills  into  the  valley  of  the  Nam  Lui,  striking 
that  river  at  Muong  Uak,  a point  at  which  it  begins  to 
be  navigable,  and  crossing  to  the  left  bank  climbed  over 
another  range  into  the  province  of  Muong  Sam-Tao. 
Ban  Kien,  the  capital,  a big  town  built  on  the  highest 
point  of  the  surrounding  plateau,  was  visited,  where  an 
important  armoury  which  was  turning  out  some  3,000 
muskets  per  annum  was  found.  The  plateau  is  thickly 
populated,  principally  by  Does,  who  number  some  10,000 
souls.  On  September  nth  de  Lagree  reached  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Nam  Lui  with  the  Nam  Lem,  and  two  days 
later  arrived  at  Muong  Yu  on  the  right  bank  of  the  for- 
mer river,  where  he  rejoined  Gamier  and  the  rest  of  the 
party  who  had  come  direct  from  Muong  Yong.  After 


23  o 


FURTHER  INDIA 


a halt  of  five  days  the  expedition  once  more  crossed  the 
Nam  Lui,  and  struck  out  for  Muong  Long. 

Following  a path  which  zigzagged  up  the  hillside 
until  the  summit  was  reached,  the  explorers  passed  down 
into  the  valley  of  the  Nam  Nga  on  September  19th,  and 
continued  their  journey  through  numerous  villages,  set 
in  the  midst  of  rice-fields,  to  Muong  Long.  This  is  a 
place  of  1,500  to  1,800  inhabitants,  situated  on  the  banks 
of  the  Nam  Kama,  a tributary  of  the  Nam  Nga,  and  is 
reached  from  the  stone  bridge  which  spans  the  latter 
stream  by  means  of  a paved  road.  The  bridge,  the  road, 
and  a number  of  carved  lions  which  had  been  broken 
and  cast  aside  during  some  period  of  destructive  war- 
fare, were  all  found  to  be  of  distinctly  Chinese  design, 
and  the  near  neighbourhood  of  China — the  goal  towards 
which  the  Frenchmen  had  been  toiling  for  so  many 
weary  months — was  further  attested  by  the  presence  in 
the  gaping  crowd  which  turned  out  to  meet  them  of  two 
indubitably  Chinese  women. 

“ Les  Chinoises  en  question  ” says  Gamier,  “ etaient 
vieillcs,  sales  et  dccrepites,  mais  Us  avaient  les  petits  pieds 
— cela  sufFisait  pour  afhrmer  leur  nationality  d’une  maniere 
incontestable  et  justider  V admiration  de  mes  compagnons.” 

Here  the  explorers  were  at  last  on  the  very  frontiers 
of  the  Promised  Land.  What  room  for  wonder  if,  after 
all  their  privations,  all  their  labours,  all  their  struggles, 
this  precious  knowledge  served  to  hearten  them  again, 
and  to  nerve  them  to  renewed  endeavour? 

In  other  respects,  too,  the  prospects  of  the  expedition 
showed  signs  of  brightening.  The  health  of  the  party 
had  improved ; the  rainy  season  was  at  an  end ; and  the 


SHAN  STATES  AND  YUN-NAN  a3i* 


local  authorities  at  Muong  Long  were  proving  amenable. 
The  King  and  the  Sena,  or  governing  body  of  Chieng 
Hong — the  immediate  objective  of  the  explorers — threat- 
ened to  create  difficulties,  however,  and  Alevy,  the  in- 
valuable, was  sent  forward  to  make  the  rough  paths 
smooth.  De  Lagree  and  his  whole  band  followed  him 
on  September  27th,  permission  to  advance  having  been 
accorded  to  them.  The  way  led  through  densely  popu- 
lated country,  where  the  streams  were  crossed  by  bridges 
with  convenient  benches  set  upon  them  to  invite  the 
weary  to  repose.  After  passing  the  Nam  Pui,  hilly 
country  was  entered  where  the  wooded  slopes  recalled  to 
the  exiles  many  well-remembered  spots  in  la  belle  France. 
The  track,  however,  led  up  and  down  hill  unceasingly, 
and  now  and  again  lost  itself  in  bogs,  the  flagged  road 
having  ended  at  a very  short  distance  from  Muong 
Long.  The  people  of  this  district  were  mostly  Khos 
tribesmen,  a pale-skinned  race  whose  presence  in  this 
European-looking  country  emphasised  its  resemblance  to 
the  dear  home-land.  The  ending  of  the  wet  season  had 
let  loose  the  dammed-up  trade  of  Chieng  Hong,  and 
numerous  caravans  of  laden  pack-bullocks,  bearing  stores 
of  tea,  lead,  cotton,  and  tobacco,  were  met  upon  the  road. 

On  September  29th  the  explorers  emerged  on  to  the 
great  plain  of  Chieng  Hong,  via  the  valley  of  a tributary 
of  the  Nam  Ha,  a river  which  falls  into  the  Mekong  at 
Chip  Song  Panna.  Having  passed  across  the  plain,  on 
which  villages  newly  reared  stood  cheek  by  jowl  with 
others  which  a ruthless  war  had  ruined,  and  having 
crossed  the  Nam  Ha  by  ferry-boat,  the  travellers  camped 
in  a pagoda  without  the  walls  of  Chieng  Hong,  where 


FURTHER  INDIA 


they  were  speedily  joined  by  Alevy.  He  had  failed  to 
obtain  an  interview  with  the  King,  or  with  either  the 
Chinese  or  the  Burmese  agent  stationed  at  the  Court  of 
this  much  administered  monarch;  but  he  had  harangued 
the  Sena,  and  had  bluffed  that  august  body  into  grant- 
ing permission  to  his  employers  to  advance  to  Chieng 
Hong.  On  the  very  morning  of  their  arrival,  after  a 
great  discussion  in  the  Sena,  the  Chinese  agent  had 
left  post-haste  for  Yun-nan,  for  what  purpose  was 
unknown. 

De  Lagree  acted  promptly,  and  called  upon  the  Sena 
to  give  him  a formal  refusal  in  writing  to  his  request  to 
be  allowed  to  proceed,  or  else  to  furnish  the  transport 
necessary  to  enable  him  to  continue  his  journey.  The 
Sena  finally  yielded,  wherefore  an  audience  with  the 
King  was  arranged,  and  the  requisite  transport  was 
promised.  Gamier  did  not  attend  the  interview,  for, 
finding  himself  once  more  close  to  the  Mekong,  he  was 
fain  to  visit  it.  It  here  measures  about  400  yards  across, 
running  between  high  banks,  and  Gamier  followed  it  up 
for  some  miles,  though,  as  the  trade-tracks  lie  at  a con- 
siderable distance  from  the  stream,  the  dense  bamboo 
jungle  made  walking  somewhat  difficult.  What  he  saw 
of  it  reminded  him  of  the  troubled  reaches  above  Vien 
Chan ; for  the  Mekong  flows  towards  Chieng  Hong 
through  broken  and  mountainous  country.  The  ruins  of 
the  old  town,  destroyed  by  Maha  Sai  and  completely 
overgrown  with  jungle,  were  also  visited  by  several 
members  of  the  expedition,  and  the  remains  of  the  palace 
and  of  one  pagoda  proved  to  be  of  great  interest,  their 
architecture  and  ornamentation  surpassing  in  beauty  and 


SHAN  STATES  AND  YUN-NAN  233 


originality  anything  seen  by  the  travellers  since  their 
entry  into  the  Laos  country. 

Leaving  Chieng  Hong  on  October  8th,  the  explorers 
crossed  the  Mekong  upon  a huge  ferry-raft  just  above 
the  town. 

“ C’etait  la  derniere  fois  que  nous  naviguions  les  eaux 
du  Mekong,”  writes  Gamier,  with  very  genuine  grief  in 
his  words ; “ il  fallait  dire  un  adieu  dednitif  a tous  ces 
paysages  imposants  ou  gracieux  avec  lesquels  un  long 
sejour  sur  ses  bords  nous  avait  familiarises.  Les  fetes 
sur  I’eau,  les  courses  de  pirogues,  les  illuminations 
venitiennes,  les  dangers  et  les  plaisirs  qui  lui  avaient 
fait  une  place  d part  dans  nos  souvenirs,  tout  cela  allaient 
etre  remplace  sur  la  scene  du  voyage  par  des  decors 
nouveaux  et  des  impressions  d’un  autre  genre.” 

The  uncertain  promise  of  the  future,  despite  its  mys- 
tery and  its  compelling  interest,  was  powerless  to  con- 
sole at  least  one  heart  among  the  adventurers  for  this 
parting  with  the  great  river  which  had  borne  them  com- 
pany for  so  long,  and  which  had  won  so  great  a place 
in  his  affections.  Still,  Chieng  Hong  was  the  uttermost 
point  to  which  McLeod  had  attained  in  1837;  now,  after 
a lapse  of  thirty  years,  it  was  to  fall  to  the  lot  of  this 
little  band  of  Frenchmen  to  penetrate  into  lands  which 
had  hitherto  been  hidden  from  the  prying  eyes  of  the 
West.  In  this  thought  there  was  magic,  and  a rich  re- 
ward for  privations  passed  and  dangers  yet  to  come. 

Once  across  the  Mekong,  the  explorers  zigzagged  up 
the  hills,  through  sparsely  populated  country,  to  Muong 
Yang.  On  October  9th  the  valley  of  the  Nam  Yang 


FURTHER  INDIA 


234 

was  quitted  and  a mountainous  region  was  entered.  The 
party  camped  that  night  at  a height  of  4,500  feet  above 
sea-level,  and  so  passed  on  to  Chieng  Nua,  the  last  im- 
portant Shan  village,  which  is  regarded  as  “ the  portal 
of  China.”  On  October  12th  the  Frenchmen  quitted  the 
valley  of  the  Nam  Yot,  in  which  Chieng  Nua  stands,  by 
a narrow  gorge  which  led  them  to  Muong  Pang,  a village 
which,  half  hidden  in  a fold  of  the  hills,  3,800  feet  above 
sea-level,  was  found  to  be  in  some  sort  an  integral  por- 
tion of  the  Celestial  Empire — the  first  outpost  of  the 
Promised  Land.  The  population  was  partly  Thai,  partly 
Chinese,  and  huts  built  on  the  ground  had  replaced  the 
houses  perched  on  piles  in  use  in  the  Shan  States,  while 
benches,  tables,  ploughs,  winnowing  machines,  and  the 
improved  character  of  the  tillage,  all  bore  witness  to  the 
existence  of  a higher  standard  of  civilisation.  The  im- 
mense energy  of  the  Chinese,  as  evidenced  even  here  on 
the  outskirts  of  their  empire,  struck  the  explorers  with 
admiration  and  surprise  after  their  long  sojourn  among 
folk  of  a lesser  breed.  That  night  they  were  treated  to 
a “ musical  ” entertainment,  in  which  certain  athletic 
Thais  performed  gymnastic  exercises  with  feet,  knees, 
and  hands,  upon  a number  of  gongs. 

From  Muong  Pang  the  party  made  its  way  to  Chu 
Chai,  through  country  in  which  villages  were  perched  on 
the  caps  of  most  of  the  hills,  amid  clumps  of  oak  and 
pine,  while  maize  had  replaced  rice  crops  on  the  higher 
levels,  and  plums,  pears,  peaches,  and  vegetables  such  as 
the  Chinese  love,  were  cultivated  in  great  abundance. 
Chu  Chai,  reached  on  October  16th,  was  the  first  purely 
Chinese  place  met  with,  and  Gamier  noted  that  the 


SHAN  STATES  AND  YUN-NAN  23$ 


peculiar  power  of  the  Chinese  civilisation  to  mould  all 
whom  it  influences  into  conformity  with  a single  type 
was  as  plainly  evident  here  as  in  the  country  between 
Tien-Tsin  and  Peking,  which  he  had  visited  during  the 
Franco-Chinese  war. 

“ Nous  retrouvions  partout,”  he  writes,  “ ce  cachet 
d’uniformite  routiniere  qu’une  civilisation,  vieille  de  plu- 
sieurs  milliers  d’annees,  a su  imprinter  aux  moeurs  d’une 
immense  population,  malgre  la  diversite  des  origines  et 
Vet  endue  d’un  territoire  qui  reunit  tous  les  climats.” 

The  devastation  caused  by  the  Muhammadan  rebellion 
was  now  becoming  apparent ; moreover  the  ravages  of 
cholera  had  caused  many  homesteads  to  be  deserted.  The 
events  of  the  insurrection  were  painted  by  the  natives  in 
lurid  colours,  and  the  prowess  of  the  rebels  and  the  mar- 
vellous weapons  at  their  disposal  were  exaggerated  fan- 
tastically. Passing  through  this  land  of  roofless  houses, 
deserted  fields,  and  blackened  ruins,  the  explorers  came 
at  last  to  an  immense  plain,  in  the  centre  of  which  is 
Se-Mao,  the  first  Chinese  city  of  Yun-nan.  The  goal 
towards  which  they  had  been  struggling  with  such  splen- 
did endurance  was  reached.  Here  was  China  in  very 
truth,  and  her  portals  had  at  length  been  forced  upon 
the  western  side. 

“ Ce  ne  fut  pas  sans  une  vive  emotion  que  nous  salu- 
ames  cette  premiere  ville  chinoise  qui  dressait  devant 
nous  ses  toits  hospitaliers.  Apres  dix-huit  mois  de 
fatigues,  apres  avoir  traverse  des  regions  presque  vierges 
encore  de  pas  humains,  nous  nous  trouvions  en  presence 


1^6 


FURTHER  INDIA 


d’une  cite  de  I’Orient.  Pour  la  premiere  fois,  des  voy- 
ageurs  europeens  penetraient  en  Chine  par  la  frontiere 
indo-chinoise ! A ce  moment  sans  doute,  notre  en- 
thousiasme  depassa  la  mesure:  les  souffrances  dont  }ious 
I’avions  paye  nous  exagererent  l’ importance  du  resultat, 
et,  un  instant,  nous  crumes  de  bonne  foi  que  la  Chine 
se  revelait  enftn  a l’ Europe,  representee  par  six  Fran- 
gais!  ” 

It  was  a great  achievement,  and  the  victory  was  all  the 
more  precious  because  it  had  been  bought  at  the  price  of 
so  much  toil  and  suffering,  yet  I make  no  doubt  that  the 
band  of  hardy  adventurers  felt,  in  this  first  moment  of 
their  triumph,  that  for  all  their  pains  they  now  received 
“ an  over-payment  of  delight.” 

The  entrance  of  the  explorers  into  Se-Mao,  where 
they  were  received  by  genuflecting  mandarins,  an  escort 
of  soldiers,  and  huge  crowds  of  curious  spectators,  was 
an  occasion  of  some  embarrassment  to  the  travel-worn 
members  of  the  expedition.  Shoeless  and  with  their 
clothes  in  tatters,  they  were  conscious  of  cutting  a de- 
spicable figure  in  the  eyes  of  their  punctilious  and 
form-loving  hosts,  but  for  all  that  they  were  kindly 
treated  by  the  Governor,  and  on  October  30th  they 
pushed  on  to  Pu-ul-fu.  Se-Mao  was  at  this  time  an 
immense  armed  camp.  Fighting  was  even  then  going 
on  at  Muong  Ka  and  Muong  Pan  with  the  Kuitze, 
as  the  insurgent  Muhammadans  were  called,  and  the 
local  authorities  had  ceased  to  be  practically  controlled 
by  the  central  Government  at  Peking.  Having  procured 
§hoes  at  the  shops  of  Se-Mao,  the  travellers  passed  with 


SHAN  STATES  AND  YUN-NAN  237 


comfort  over  the  paved  road  leading  from  that  place  to 
Pu-ul-fu,  though  the  country  all  around  was  utterly 
devastated.  Pu-ul-fu,  which  is  the  capital  of  a province 
of  which  Se-Mao,  Tai-lang,  and  Uei-yuan  are  the  prin- 
cipal towns,  was  under  the  charge  of  a prefect,  “ melan- 
colique  doctcur  d bouton  rouge,”  who  was  suffering  badly 
from  funk,  and  entreated  de  Lagree  to  abandon  his 
project  of  further  exploration  of  lands  so  troublous. 

Gamier  had  been  pestering  his  chief  for  permission  to 
go  alone  across  country  to  the  Mekong,  distant  some 
seven  days’  journey  from  Pu-ul-fu,  but  after  weighing 
all  the  chances,  de  Lagree  decided  that  the  risks  were  too 
great,  and  his  lieutenant  had  to  resign  himself  to  the 
abandonment  of  the  object  he  had  nearest  at  heart — the 
discovery  of  the  sources  of  the  great  river. 

From  Pu-ul-fu  the  party  crossed  through  hilly  country 
into  the  valley  of  the  Pa-pien,  an  affluent  of  the  Black 
River,  or  Song  Bo,  which  is  one  of  the  main  branches 
of  the  Song  Koi,  or  Red  River  of  Tongking.  New 
heights  were  scaled  leading  up  to  the  plateau  of  Yun- 
nan, and  after  passing  through  the  town  of  Tong  Kuan 
and  crossing  the  Pu-ku  Kiang  in  boats,  the  travellers 
reached  Tai-lang,  a city  somewhat  smaller  than  Pu-ul-fu, 
on  November  9th.  Here  potatoes  were  found  for  the  first 
time  for  many  long  months,  while  the  surrounding  dis- 
trict yielded  an  abundance  of  European  fruits.  An  ex- 
traordinary feature  of  this  valley  was  that  peaches,  pears, 
and  chestnuts  were  growing  almost  side  by  side  with 
mangoes,  guavas  and  other  tropical  fruits.  Here  too  a 
new  tribe  of  “ wild  folk  ” was  met — the  Ho-Nhi — a fine 
race,  resembling  the  Khas  Khos,  in  whom  Gamier 


238 


FURTHER  INDIA 


thought  to  detect  specimens  of  the  aboriginal  people 
from  whom  the  natives  of  Laos  and  the  Shan  States  are 
descended.  The  important  gold  mines  in  the  vicinity,  in 
which  as  many  as  10,000  labourers  had  been  employed 
in  peaceful  times,  were  also  visited. 

On  November  16th,  climbing  the  heights  to  the  east 
of  Tai-lang,  near  the  summits  of  which  the  first  fields  of 
the  opium-poppy  were  seen,  the  explorers  marched  all 
day  through  pelting  rain.  After  crossing  a torrent  by 
means  of  a very  fine  stone  bridge,  and  breasting  a steep 
ascent,  they  looked  down  upon  the  valley  of  the  Ho-ti- 
Kiang,  in  which,  amid  verdure  and  cultivation  of  a 
semi-tropical  character,  is  situated  the  town  of  Yuan- 
kiang.  This  place  was  ruled  by  the  Thais  until  the 
Chinese  finally  possessed  themselves  of  it  in  1712,  and 
large  numbers  of  the  “ wild  ” people  called  Pa-i,  who 
seem  to  be  a branch  of  the  Thai  family,  still  live  in  its 
neighbourhood.  Near  Yuan-kiang  large  quantities  of 
cotton  and  sugar-cane  are  grown,  and  Joubert  visited  the 
copper  mines  which  are  also  a feature  of  the  district. 
The  town  stands  on  the  banks  of  the  Ho-ki  Kiang,  which 
is  here  some  300  yards  across.  Lower  down  the  stream 
narrows,  but  is  navigable  for  some  distance  until  its  bed 
becomes  impeded  by  rapids.  Down  the  Ho-ki  Kiang  the 
expedition  proceeded  in  boats  to  Pu-pio,  whence  a road 
leads  to  Che-pin.  Here  there  is  an  impassable  rapid,  but 
Gamier  obtained  a boat  below  this  obstruction  and  fol- 
lowed the  river  down  for  some  distance.  It  ran  through 
deep  gorges  pent  between  heights  which  sometimes  at- 
tained an  elevation  of  3,000  feet,  and  very  soon  a rapid 
was  reached  which  could  not  be  negotiated.  Gamier 


SHAN  STATES  AND  YUN-NAN  239 


accordingly  had  to  scale  the  cliffs,  a matter  of  some  dif- 
ficulty, and  to  make  his  way  to  Lin-ngan  across  a great 
plateau,  arriving  there  in  advance  of  his  chief.  His 
coming  caused  immense  popular  excitement,  and  it  was 
with  great  relief  that  Gamier  hailed  the  arrival  of  de 
Lagree  and  his  party  on  the  following  day. 

At  Lin-ngan  the  explorers  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Leang  Ta  Jen,  a remarkable  man  who,  from  humble 
beginnings,  had  by  sheer  force  of  character,  skill  in 
leadership,  and  courage,  succeeded  in  raising  himself  to 
one  of  the  foremost  positions  in  this  part  of  China.  A 
man  of  herculean  build  and  of  vigorous  manner,  he  pre- 
sented a striking  contrast  to  the  poor  dyspeptic  of  Pu-ul- 
fu,  and  while  he  treated  the  strangers  with  marked  cour- 
tesy, did  nothing  to  dissuade  them  from  their  enterprise. 
From  him  and  others  Gamier  collected,  while  at  Lin- 
ngan,  a considerable  number  of  data  concerning  the 
neighbouring  provinces  and  the  route  to  Tongking  via 
the  Red  River — data  which  subsequently  aided  the 
Frenchman,  Dupuis,  to  push  his  discoveries  in  this 
direction. 

From  Lin-ngan  the  party  proceeded  across  the  plain 
to  Che-pin  on  the  borders  of  a lake  some  miles  in 
length,  and  on  December  14th  Tong-hai  was  reached,  a 
town  situated  on  the  banks  of  a lake  somewhat  larger 
than  that  of  Che-pin.  Here  the  crowds  again  proved 
troublesome. 

Tong-hai,  like  most  of  the  towns  of  the  province  at 
this  time,  was  a great  armed  camp,  and  on  the  heights 
above  it  was  a fortified  post  named  TungTKao,  which 
was  held  by  a band  of  Muhammadans  who  remained  in 


240 


FURTHER  INDIA 


possession  until  1870,  when,  having  refused  the  honour- 
able terms  of  surrender  offered  to  them,  they  died  in  a 
fashion  which  may  fairly  be  termed  heroic.  On  Decem- 
ber 17th  the  lake  of  Kiang-Chuan  was  seen, — a patch  of 
blue  water  between  snow-clad  mountains, — its  borders 
tilled  and  densely  peopled,  the  heights  above  it  barren 
and  covered  sparsely  with  patches  of  rhododendron 
scrub. 

Passing  through  an  enormous  grave-yard  on  the  bor- 
ders of  the  lake,  the  travellers  climbed  to  the  summit  of 
a range  some  6,000  feet  above  sea-level,  and  thence  ob- 
tained a splendid  view  of  the  surrounding  country.  To 
the  south  lay  Kiang  Chuan  with  its  plain  and  lake,  and 
with  Chin  Kiang  at  its  northern  extremity ; to  the  north 
rich  valleys  fell  away  to  the  plain  of  Yun-nan,  in  which 
the  greatest  of  the  lakes  seemed  a veritable  sea.  Having 
descended  the  range,  the  explorers  reached  Tsin-ning,  at 
the  entrance  to  the  plain,  on  December  21st,  and  found 
that  its  neighbourhood  presented  a terrible  picture  of  the 
devastation  which  Muhammadans  can  work  in  the  name 
of  their  faith.  From  this  point  a paved  road  led  to  the 
town  of  Yun-nan,  and  as  they  passed  along  it  the  French- 
men observed  that  the  signs  of  ravage  ceased,  and  the 
increasing  traffic  and  the  number  and  beauty  of  the  way- 
side  buildings  showed  that  they  were  nearing  the  capital. 
Splendid  stone  bridges,  similar  to  those  which  had  ex- 
cited the  admiration  of  the  travellers  near  Muong  Long, 
were  crossed  at  frequent  intervals,  and  after  long  wan- 
derings through  countries  peopled  by  weaker  races,  the 
innate  greatness  and  energy  of  the  Chinese  civilisation 
struck  the  visitors  with  something  akin  to  wonder. 


From  Mission  Pavie,  by  permission  of  M.  Iirnesl  Leroux,  Paris 


SHAN  STATES  AND  YUN-NAN  241 


“ Jamais ,”  writes  Gamier,  “ la  puissante  civilisation 
dont  nous  etions  les  hdtes  ne  s’etait  revelee  d nous  avec 
autant  d’ enchantment  et  sous  d’aussi  riches  apparences. 
La  nouveaute  de  ce  spectacle,  marque  dans  tous  ses  de- 
tails de  ce  caractere  etrange  qui  est  special  au  Celeste- 
Empire,  le  souvenir  des  forets  et  de  la  barbarie  au  milieu 
desquelles  nous  avions  si  longtemps  vecus  nous  faisaient 
parfois  croire  a un  reve,  et  nous  nous  surprenions  a 
rougir  de  nos  allures  miserables  et  de  nos  costumes  in- 
formes et  souilles,  en  croisant  un  palanquin  ou  en  f volant 
les  robes  de  soie  des  bourgeois  qui  se  pressaient  stir  le 
seuil  de  leur  maisons  pour  voir  passer  les  etrangers.” 

Yun-nan  was  sighted  at  mid-day,  and  presently  a minor 
mandarin  arriving  from  the  city  handed  to  de  Lagree  a 
letter  written  in  French ! Coming  now  at  the  end  of  so 
long  a period  of  exile  and  isolation,  this  missive  was  to 
the  wanderers  as  a very  breath  of  Home.  They  gath- 
ered round  their  chief  and  scanned  the  precious  page 
with  hungry  eyes ; it  seemed  to  them,  inconsequently 
enough,  that  they  would  now  learn  the  tidings  of 
France  for  which  they  were  pining.  They  entered  the 
city  through  its  southern  portal,  and  passing  up  the  long 
street  amid  curious  crowds  took  possession  of  the  yamen 
which  had  been  placed  at  their  disposal.  They  were  met 
by  some  of  the  officials  of  the  place,  and  Pere  Protteau, 
the  author  of  the  letter,  hastened  to  introduce  himself 
to  his  compatriots.  The  town  was  in  a state  bordering 
upon  panic  caused  by  recent  Muhammadan  successes. 
It  was  a great  rectangular  place,  enclosed  by  walls  meas- 
uring 2 miles  by  i£,  and  its  population  of  50,000  souls 


242  FURTHER  INDIA 

were  all  professedly  in  the  Imperial  interest,  although 
many  of  them  were  Muslims,  the  Muhammadans  of  Yun- 
nan being  divided  at  this  time  into  two  camps,  the  one 
loyal  to  Peking,  the  other  paying  allegiance  to  the  Sul- 
tan whose  capital  was  Ta-li-fu. 

The  insurrection  had  had  its  beginning  more  than  ten 
years  earlier,  in  1856,  when  the  Muhammadans  of  Yun- 
nan city  rose  and  pillaged  that  place.  The  Chinese  au- 
thorities thereupon  decided  upon  a general  massacre  of 
the  Muslims,  and  in  the  city  of  Yun-nan  alone  some 
thousands  perished.  With  the  hour  of  the  Muslims’ 
need,  however,  came  also  the  man, — one  Tu-uan-si, — 
who  taking  the  field  with  some  forty  of  his  coreligionists, 
was  speedily  joined  by  others  who  had  escaped  the  gen- 
eral massacre.  With  600  men  this  leader  marched  upon 
Ta-li-fu,  the  town  of  next  importance  to  the  capital 
in  the  province  of  Yun-nan,  and  here  the  garrison  of 
4,000  soldiers,  many  of  them  Muslims,  surrendered  to 
him  without  a blow  being  struck.  The  Chinese  authori- 
ties immediately  besieged  Ta-li-fu,  but  their  troops 
were  routed,  and  the  victorious  Muhammadans  promptly 
marched  against  Yun-nan.  Pang,  the  governor  of  the 
province,  succeeded  in  checking  their  advance,  but  he 
was  assassinated  shortly  afterwards,  and  a Muhamma- 
dan Haji,  styled  Lao  Papa,  was  proclaimed  emperor. 
Ma  Tien,  who  later  assumed  the  title  of  Ma  Ta  Jen, 
a Muhammadan  leader  professedly  in  the  Imperial  in- 
terest, lost  no  time  in  deposing  Lao  Papa,  who  there- 
upon retired  into  obscurity,  though  as  a great  doctor 
of  Muhammadan  Law  he  continued  to  exercise  consid- 
erable religious  influence  over  all  the  Muslims  of  the 


SHAN  STATES  AND  YUN-NAN  243 


province.  Ma  Ta  Jen  set  up  in  his  stead  a governor 
on  whom  he  conferred  the  title  of  Lao  Ta  Jen,  though 
the  actual  power  continued  to  be  vested  in  the  Mu- 
hammadan king-maker.  In  the  south,  Leang  Ta  Jen, 
the  giant  of  whom  mention  has  already  been  made,  re- 
fused to  obey  either  Ma  Ta  Jen  or  his  puppet,  and  the 
two  factions,  both  nominally  Imperial,  were  soon  at  open 
warfare.  In  the  encounters  which  resulted  the  giant  had 
the  best  of  it,  and  Ma  Ta  Jen  was  for  a period  a prisoner 
at  Lin-ngan.  Later  an  accommodation  was  come  to,  and 
Ma  Ta  Jen,  being  set  at  liberty,  succeeded  in  driving  the 
rebel  Muhammadans  out  of  Yun-nan.  They  then  fell 
back  upon*  Ta-li-fu,  which  they  fortified,  and  which 
thenceforth  became  their  capital  and  the  centre  of  their 
power.  The  adventurer  Tu-uan-si  was  there  proclaimed 
Sultan  in  1867.  In  the  southern  portion  of  the  province 
Leang  Ta  Jen,  the  giant,  continued  to  reign,  practically 
without  reference  to  Peking,  while  at  the  time  of  the 
Frenchmen’s  visit  Ma  Ta  Jen  was  supreme  in  the  north, 
Lao  Papa,  his  dreams  of  temporal  power  laid  aside,  liv- 
ing peacefully  in  the  city  of  Yun-nan.  Throughout  all 
these  troubles  Peking  maintained  an  attitude  of  magnifi- 
cent indifference,  the  fact  being  that  the  interest  of  the 
Imperial  authorities  in  this  outlying  flange  of  the  empire 
ceased  to  be  active  when  the  province  itself  discontinued 
the  regular  payment  of  tribute. 

On  the  day  following  his  arrival,  de  Lagree  hastened 
to  pay  a visit  to  Ma  Ta  Jen,  and  was  well  received ; but 
the  king-maker  was  powerless  to  further  his  guest’s  de- 
sire to  proceed  to  Ta-li-fu,  whence  it  would  be  possible 
to  explore  the  upper  reaches  of  the  Mekong.  Beyond 


244  FURTHER  INDIA 

the  confines  of  his  immediate  province,  the  authority  of 
this  Muhammadan  viceroy  did  not  run,  and  the  Ta-li-fu 
district,  as  has  been  said,  was  in  the  hands  of  the  rebel 
Sultan.  From  the  excellent  Pere  Protteau,  also,  neither 
aid  nor  information  could  be  obtained.  The  good  priest 
was  kindly,  courteous,  and  devoted.  Dressed  in  Chinese 
costume,  living  on  native  food  and  in  the  native  fashion, 
he  appeared  to  have  become  totally  denationalised,  and 
he  stood  in  great  awe  of  the  local  authorities.  He  was 
zealous  in  his  religious  work,  however,  and  the  French- 
men had  the  curious  experience  of  attending  Midnight 
Mass  on  Christmas  Day  in  this  distant  Chinese  city.  On 
January  2nd,  however,  another  missionary  arrived.  This 
was  Pere  Fenouil,  who,  under  his  native  name  of  Ko- 
su-to,  had  been  heard  of  by  the  explorers  as  a first-rate 
fighting  man  and  an  indefatigable  manufacturer  of  gun- 
powder, ever  since  their  arrival  in  Chinese  territory. 

“ Nous  retrouvames  en  lui,”  writes  Gamier,  “ tin 
homme  qui  pleurait  a la  pensee  de  sa  mere,  un  Francois 
dont  le  cceur  battait  toujours  au  nom  de  sa  patrie.  Nous 
admirames  I’obscur  devouement  du  P.  Protteau,  nous 
aimdmes  le  P.  Fenouil.” 

Acting  on  the  advice  of  this  new-comer,  de  Lagree 
paid  a visit  to  Lao  Papa,  the  Muhammadan  sage  and 
saint  who  for  a day  had  played  the  proud  role  of  emperor 
in  Yun-nan.  The  holy  man  was  much  interested  in 
astronomy,  and  had  in  his  possession  a fine  telescope, 
brought  at  much  expense  from  Singapore.  Over  this  in- 
strument, which  hitherto  had  defied  his  attempts  to  focus 
it,  a pact  of  friendship  was  presently  sealed,  Lao  Papa 


SHAN  STATES  AND  YUN-NAN  245 


furnishing  the  explorers  with  letters  recommending  them 
to  all  his  coreligionists.  Ma  Ta  Jen,  for  his  part,  ad- 
vanced 5,000  francs  to  de  Lagree,  saying  that  repayment 
was  quite  unnecessary,  but  that  if  the  Frenchman  was 
really  concerned  about  such  details,  he  might  send  him 
the  equivalent  in  rifles  when  he  reached  the  coast.  One 
cannot  but  be  struck  with  the  extraordinary  hospitality, 
courtesy  and  kindness  with  which  the  strangers  were 
invariably  treated  by  the  authorities  in  China.  From  the 
crowds  collected  to  stare  at  them  they  occasionally  suf- 
fered some  inconvenience,  but  I greatly  question  whether 
the  first  Chinese  to  penetrate  to  London  would  have 
fared  better  at  the  hands  of  the  English  populace  had 
they  ventured  abroad  in  our  streets. 

Leaving  Yun-nan  on  January  8th,  the  travellers  de- 
scended into  the  valley  of  the  Li-tang  Ho,  which  falls 
into  the  Blue  River  near  Tong-Chuan,  and  passing 
through  forest  country  reached  the  village  of  Kon-chang 
on  the  14th.  Here  de  Lagree  was  attacked  by  fever,  and 
on  the  following  day,  when  heights  7,800  feet  above  sea- 
level  had  to  be  scaled,  he  was  so  ill  that  it  became  neces- 
sary to  carry  him  in  a palanquin.  Descending  from  this 
point  to  Tai-phu,  the  explorers  followed  the  banks  of 
the  river  for  a short  distance  and  then  embarked  in  boats 
which  carried  them  through  desolate,  woe-begone  look- 
ing country  to  Tong-Chuan.  De  Lagree’s  condition  had 
now  become  so  critical  that  he  was  forced  to  abandon 
all  idea  of  continuing  his  journey,  and  deciding  to  keep 
the  doctor,  Joubert,  with  him,  he  instructed  the  remainder 
of  the  party,  under  Gamier,  to  make  an  attempt  to  reach 
the  Muhammadan  stronghold  of  Ta-li-fu. 


246 


FURTHER  INDIA 


For  this  place  a start  was  made  on  January  30th. 
On  the  following  day  the  waters  of  the  Kin-sha  Kiang, 
the  upper  branch  of  the  Yang-tse,  were  seen  near  their 
junction  with  the  Li-tang  Ho,  1,800  feet  below  the  track 
cut  in  the  mountain-side,  and  the  explorers  had  the  de- 
light of  thinking  that,  since  the  days  of  Marco  Polo,  no 
white  men  had  looked  upon  this  river  at  a point  so  far 
distant  from  the  coast.  On  February  1st  the  Kin-sha 
Kiang  was  crossed  by  ferry,  and  the  province  of  Se- 
Chuan  was  entered.  The  river  was  200  yards  in  width, 
but  owing  to  big  rapids  lower  down  it  was  still  quite 
useless  for  purposes  of  navigation.  Climbing  heights  on 
the  farther  bank  to  an  altitude  of  3,600  feet,  the  party 
made  its  way  through  mountainous  country,  amid  fre- 
quent snow-storms,  crossing  the  summit  on  February  3rd. 
Descending  to  Tzan-hi-pa  the  travellers  found  some 
native  Christians,  and  leaving  them,  passed  to  Chang-chu, 
beyond  which  place  the  country  becomes  less  wild  and 
difficult.  Thence  they  made  their  way  to  the  plain  on 
which  Hui-lu-chu,  an  important  trading  centre,  stands, 
and  from  there  to  Hong-pu-so,  a visit  being  paid  to  the 
point  where  the  Ya-long  Kiang  joins  the  Kin-sha  at  a 
distance  of  8p2  miles  from  the  last  named  town.  On 
February  nth  a young  native  priest,  Pere  Lu,  who  had 
been  educated  at  the  missionary  college  of  Pulau  Tikus 
near  Penang,  arrived  at  Hong-pu-so,  and  consented  to 
accompany  the  party  to  Ma-chang.  On  the  road  thither 
some  coal-mines  were  visited.  Coal  was  the  fuel  in  gen- 
eral use  in  this  district,  and  the  chimneys  with  which 
the  houses  were  fitted  struck  the  Europeans  as  objects  at 
once  familiar  and  unfamiliar.  On  February  16th  the 


SHAN  STATES  AND  YUN-NAN  247 


Yang-tse  was  crossed,  and  the  night  was  passed  in  an 
isolated  homestead  4,000  feet  above  sea-level.  The  coun- 
try, covered  with  pine  forests,  was  sparsely  inhabited, 
but  the  great  step  had  been  taken — the  borders  of  the 
Muhammadan  kingdom  had  been  crossed. 

Switchbacking  over  hilly  ground  the  explorers  rejoined 
the  direct  track  from  Hong-pu-so  to  Ta-li-fu,  which  they 
had  temporarily  abandoned,  and  found  a considerable 
traffic  plying  along  it.  The  road  led  along  the  banks  of 
the  Pe-ma  Ho,  a considerable  river,  and  here  the  flag  of 
the  insurgent  Muhammadans  was  first  seen.  The  valley 
of  this  river  was  quitted  on  February  20th, — mountains 
9,000  feet  in  height  having  to  be  scaled, — and  a descent 
was  made  into  the  valley  of  the  Pe-yen-tzin.  Following 
a left  influent  of  that  stream,  the  explorers  crossed 
another  divide  into  the  plain  of  Pin-Chuan,  where  the 
devastation  of  the  country  was  even  more  deplorable  than 
in  any  of  the  districts  previously  traversed,  the  only  in- 
habited places  being  miserable  huts  which  were  fortified 
against  attack.  At  Pin-Chuan  an  inn  was  found,  and  the 
letter  from  Lao  Papa  had  its  desired  effect  upon  the  local 
authorities,  who  made  no  attempt  to  detain  the  travellers. 
Another  climb  brought  the  party  to  Pien-kio,  where  an- 
other native  priest,  Pere  Fang,  also  a Pulau  Tikus  man, 
was  found.  By  his  aid  a letter  was  despatched  to  Pere 
Leguilcher,  a French  priest  whose  advice  Gamier  was 
anxious  to  obtain,  and  the  morrow  being  Ash  Wednesday, 
the  explorers  attended  Mass  and  received  the  ashes  upon 
their  foreheads,  with  the  reminder  that  “ Man  is  dust,  and 
unto  dust  he  shall  return.”  The  fact  was  already  patent 
to  their  imagination,  for  the  country  through  which  they 


248 


FURTHER  INDIA 


were  now  travelling  held  its  own  terrible  record  of  suf- 
fering and  death.  It  had  been  raided  again  and  again 
by  the  “ Whites,”  or  rebel  Muslims,  and  by  the  “ Reds,” 
or  Imperialists,  while  the  tribesmen  of  the  hills,  plun- 
dering on  their  own  account,  had  completed  the  tale 
of  ruin. 

The  river  which  runs  through  the  plain  of  Pien-kio 
was  crossed  by  a fine  stone  bridge,  and  the  same  after- 
noon a summit,  9,000  feet  in  altitude,  was  climbed. 
From  the  top  glimpses  were  caught  of  a few  houses 
down  below,  surrounded  by  trees,  and  a cross  surmount- 
ing one  of  the  buildings  showed  that  Pere  Leguilcher’s 
mission  had  been  reached.  This  devoted  man,  who  in 
the  face  of  all  dangers  had  remained  at  his  post  in  the 
heart  of  the  Muhammadan  country,  placed  himself  un- 
reservedly at  the  disposal  of  his  countrymen,  and  con- 
sented to  accompany  them  to  Ta-li-fu. 

After  a day’s  rest  the  descent  was  continued  to  Kuang- 
tia-pin,  and  when  the  hills  which  lie  beyond  this  little 
town  had  been  scaled,  the  lake  of  Ta-li  was  seen,  its  blue 
waters,  surrounded  by  villages  and  gardens,  with  great 
snow-clad  mountains  for  a background,  making  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  and  impressive  sights  upon  which 
the  explorers  had  looked  during  the  whole  course  of 
their  wanderings.  Ta-li-fu  stands  on  the  margin  of 
the  lake  and  is  enclosed  on  all  sides  by  mountains,  the 
only  practicable  passes  at  each  extremity  of  the  valley 
being  guarded  by  the  fortified  towns  of  Hiang-Kuan  and 
Hia-Kuan  respectively.  A paved  road  runs  along  the 
whole  length  of  the  valley,  and  over  this  the  Frenchmen 
tramped  on  March  2nd.  A great  uneasiness  fell  upon 


SHAN  STATES  AND  YUN-NAN  249 


the  native  portion  of  the  cortege  as  the  capital  was 
neared,  and  Pere  Leguilcher’s  native  Christians  deserted 
one  by  one  till  not  a single  man  remained.  Ta-li-fu,  how- 
ever, was  reached  without  incident,  and  was  entered  by 
the  northern  gate.  Immense  crowds  had  gathered  in  the 
main  street,  and  the  strangers  were  met  by  two  man- 
darins and  conducted  to  a yamen  which  had  been  pre- 
pared for  their  accommodation.  Formal  visits  were  paid 
to  Gamier,  and  all  appeared  to  be  going  so  well  that  he 
had  high  hopes  of  once  more  visiting  the  banks  of  the 
Mekong,  when  quite  suddenly  Pere  Leguilcher  was  sent 
for  by  the  Sultan,  and  was  informed  that  the  expedition 
must  forthwith  return  by  the  way  it  had  come.  This 
was  a terrible  blow  to  Gamier,  who  attributed  the  abrupt 
change  of  attitude  to  the  suspicions  of  the  Sultan’s  mili- 
tary advisers.  He  also,  quaintly  enough,  finds  an  addi- 
tional reason  in  the  supposition  that  he  and  his  fellows 
must  have  been  mistaken  for  Englishmen ! The  Muslim 
populations  are  in  touch  all  the  world  over,  he  argues ; 
those  of  India  must  of  course  hate  Englishmen ; there- 
fore the  Muhammadans  of  Ta-li-fu  must  hate  English- 
men. The  Sultan  of  Ta-li-fu  having  behaved  with  brutal 
rudeness  to  a band  of  Frenchmen,  it  follows  that  the 
nationality  of  the  latter  cannot  have  been  known,  and 
that  they  must  have  been  mistaken  for  Englishmen.  To 
the  average  Frenchman,  seemingly,  there  is  nothing 
ridiculous  in  accusing  our  countrymen  of  “ filling  the 
butchers’  shops  with  large,  blue  flies ! ” 

For  twenty-four  hours,  during  which  the  ill-will  of 
the  authorities  became  momentarily  more  and  more  ap- 
parent, Gamier  remained  at  Ta-li-fu,  and  it  was  only 


250 


FURTHER  INDIA 


after  a bitter  struggle  that  he  abandoned  all  hopes  of 
revisiting  the  valley  of  the  Mekong.  On  March  4th  he 
started  back,  passing  rapidly  through  Hiang-kuan,  and 
reaching  Kuang-ti-pin  after  spending  a night  at  Ma-cha. 
The  authorities  now  evinced  a disposition  to  persecute 
Pere  Leguilcher,  but  Gamier  supported  the  good  priest 
with  so  brave  a show  of  force  that  he  was  suffered  to  go 
his  way  unmolested  to  the  mission  station  at  Tu-tui-tze. 
His  position,  however,  had  now  become  untenable,  and 
greatly  to  his  own  regret  and  that  of  his  native  Chris- 
tians, he  was  obliged  to  accompany  Gamier  out  of  the 
Muhammadan  dominions. 

The  journey  to  Ta-li-fu  was  unquestionably  the  most 
hazardous  exploit  undertaken  by  the  explorers  during 
the  whole  course  of  their  travels,  a fact  which  was 
recognised  by  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  when,  in 
May,  1870,  they  conferred  upon  Francis  Gamier  the 
Patron’s  Medal.  Gamier  begged  that  this  distinction 
should  be  divided  between  him  and  his  late  chief,  de 
Lagree,  but  to  this  the  Council  would  not  consent,  stating 
that  such  divisions  were  contrary  to  their  rules,  and  add- 
ing that  the  medal  was  given  more  particularly  for  the 
journey  to  the  Muhammadan  capital. 

At  Ta-li-fu  the  Tibetan  element  in  the  population  was 
strongly  marked;  pilgrimages  from  Tibet  to  the  caves  of 
The-Tong,  to  the  south-east  of  Kuan-tia-pin,  were  made 
with  frequency ; and  prior  to  the  troublous  times  of  the 
Muhammadan  rebellion,  commercial  intercourse  with 
both  Tibet  and  Burma  had  attained  to  considerable  pro- 
portions. On  the  eastern  borders  of  the  lake,  tribes 
known  as  Min-kin  and  Penti  were  met  with,  who  are 


SHAN  STATES  AND  YUN-NAN  251 


said  to  be  the  descendants  of  the  original  Chinese  settled 
in  the  valley  by  Kublai  Kaan. 

From  Ma-chang  Gamier  and  his  party  crossed  the 
range  to  Kan-chu-tse,  7,500  feet  above  sea-level,  whence 
they  descended  to  Sen-o-kai.  Leaving  this  place  on 
March  18th  they  once  more  entered  the  valley  of  the 
upper  Yang-tse,  and  reached  Mong-ku  on  the  31st,  after 
Thorel  had  paid  a visit  to  the  copper  mines  of  Tsin-chui- 
ho.  From  Mong-ku  the  river  was  explored  by  Gamier, 
who  found  it  too  much  obstructed  by  rapids  to  be  navi- 
gable. On  April  2nd  a letter  was  received  from  Joubert 
conveying  the  sad  news  of  the  death  of  Doudart  de 
Lagree  on  March  12th.  The  loss  of  the  chief  under 
whom  all  had  been  serving  for  nearly  two  years  was  a 
keen  personal  grief  to  every  member  of  the  expedition, 
and  the  tragedy  of  the  event  was  deepened  by  the  fact 
that  death  had  come  to  him  on  the  eve  of  the  longed-for 
return  to  civilisation.  De  Lagree  lacked,  it  is  probable, 
the  initiative  and  the  geographical  instinct  of  Francis 
Gamier,  but  in  appointing  him  to  the  leadership  the 
Government  had  made  a wise  selection.  His  mingled 
gentleness  and  firmness,  combined  with  his  great  natural 
aptitude  for  dealing  with  Orientals,  had  contributed 
enormously  to  the  success  of  the  expedition,  and  his  wis- 
dom and  calm  good  sense  placed  a useful  restraint  upon 
the  impetuosity  of  his  ardent  young  lieutenant.  At  a 
later  period  the  enemies  of  the  latter  were  never  weary 
of  accusing  Gamier  of  having  filched  from  his  dead  chief 
the  honour  and  glory  of  their  common  exploits,  but 
nothing  could  be  further  from  the  truth.  From  first  to 
last,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  Gamier  let  no  oppor- 


252 


FURTHER  INDIA 


tunity  escape  him  of  paying  well-deserved  tributes  to  the 
memory  of  the  man  who  had  been  at  once  his  leader  and 
his  friend.  When  the  learned  societies  of  Europe  show- 
ered distinctions  upon  him,  he  pleaded,  often  with  suc- 
cess, that  they  should  be  divided  between  himself  and  de 
Lagree’s  widow,  and  though  he  suffered  cruelly  from 
the  calumnies  spread  concerning  him,  he  never  made  the 
slightest  attempt  to  defend  himself  at  the  expense  of  the 
dead.  The  fact  remains,  however,  that  the  exploration 
of  the  Mekong  was  an  idea  of  which  Garnier  was  the 
originator;  that  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  geograph- 
ical results  obtained  represented  his  individual  work ; 
and  that  the  success  of  the  expedition  was  due  in  great 
measure  to  his  untiring  energy  and  shrewd  advice,  while 
the  dangerous  journey  to  Ta-li-fu  was  made  under  his 
sole  leadership. 

On  April  5th  the  body  of  de  Lagree,  which  had  been 
buried  at  Tong-Chuan,  was  disinterred  in  order  that  it 
might  be  conveyed  to  Saigon,  and  a rude  monument  was 
erected  on  the  spot  where  it  had  lain.  On  the  9th  the 
Ngian-nan,  a tributary  of  the  Kin-sha,  was  crossed  at 
Kiang-ti,  and  next  day  the  plateau  of  Kiang-ti  was 
reached.  Thence  the  party  passed  to  Chao-tung,  and 
crossing  some  low  hills,  finally  quitted  the  plateau  of 
Yun-nan,  descending  into  the  hot,  moist  valley  of  the 
Yang-tse.  The  party  embarked  on  a big  boat  at  Lao- 
ua-tan,  on  April  20th,  and  after  spending  a day  or  two 
with  Mgr.  Ponsot,  the  Bishop  of  Yun-nan,  at  Long-ki, 
proceeded  down  river  to  Kieu-long-tan,  where  boats 
were  engaged  for  the  journey  to  Su-chau.  At  this  place, 
reached  on  May  5th,  two  junks  were  hired,  and  on  May 


SHAN  STATES  AND  YUN-NAN  253 


27th  the  French  Consulate  at  Han-kau  was  reached,  and 
the  remarkable  journey  was  ended. 

An  American  steamer,  the  Plymouth  Rock,  conveyed 
the  travellers  to  Shanghai,  whence  after  a week’s  stay 
they  left  for  Saigon,  which  was  reached  on  June  29th, 
1868,  after  an  absence  of  two  years  and  twenty-four  days. 

The  exploration  of  the  sources  of  the  Mekong,  the 
main  object  for  the  attainment  of  which  the  expedition 
had  been  organised,  had  not  been  effected,  and  the  valley 
of  that  river  had  not  been  visited  at  any  point  above 
Chieng  Hong,  to  which  McLeod  had  attained  in  1837. 
Similarly,  the  dream  of  a trade-route  from  Yun-nan  to 
Saigon  via  the  Mekong  had  proved  to  be  no  more  than 
a dream.  Thus  far,  therefore,  the  great  expedition  may 
be  accounted  to  have  failed,  but  on  the  other  hand  it 
could  lay  claim  to  some  remarkable  achievements.  A 
detailed  survey  of  the  valley  of  the  Mekong  had  been 
made  from  Pnom  Penh  to  a point  a day’s  march  above 
the  rapid  of  Tang  He,  and  the  river  had  been  frequently 
visited  between  that  place  and  Chieng  Hong.  Most  of 
the  large  tributaries  below  Luang  Prabang  had  been  ex- 
plored in  detail.  A vast  area  in  Laos  and  the  Shan  States, 
where  no  white  man  had  hitherto  set  foot,  had  been  care- 
fully examined ; China  had  been  reached  from  the  south ; 
much  of  Yun-nan  had  been  explored  and  surveyed  for 
the  first  time ; and  finally,  in  circumstances  of  great 
difficulty,  Ta-li-fu  had  been  visited.  In  addition  to  this 
much  information  had  been  collected  concerning  not  only 
the  geography,  but  the  social,  commercial  and  political 
condition,  of  the  countries  traversed.  Facts  bearing  upon 
the  history  and  upon  the  difficult  ethnological  problems 


25  4 FURTHER  INDIA 

of  this  part  of  Asia  had  been  assiduously  noted  and  re- 
corded, the  whole  being  subsequently  embodied  by  Gar- 
nier  in  his  elaborate  Publication  OfUcielle.  The  expedition 
had  the  good  fortune  to  be  well  received  by  the  natives 
throughout  almost  the  whole  of  its  journey,  a fact  which 
was  due  in  a measure  to  the  tact  of  its  members ; but 
none  the  less  the  important  results  which  it  achieved 
were  only  obtained  at  the  price  of  an  immense  amount 
of  toil,  of  persistent  effort,  of  suffering,  and  of  patient 
endurance.  Long  months  of  exile  in  the  wilderness,  of 
complete  severance  from  their  kind,  of  privation  and 
acute  discomfort,  never  succeeded  in  disheartening  the 
travellers,  who,  through  so  much  individual  sacrifice, 
were  able  to  secure  for  France  the  honour  of  having 
penetrated,  first  of  all  the  white  nations,  into  the  southern 
provinces  of  China  by  one  of  the  great  overland  routes 
of  south-eastern  Asia. 


CHAPTER  XI 


JOURNEYS  OF  EXPLORATION  IN  BURMA 

THE  Burmese  war  of  1826  forced  upon  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Government  of  India  a recognition 
of  the  perilously  scant  measure  of  knowledge 
at  its  disposal  concerning  the  topography  of  the  country 
lying  beyond  its  borders.  The  only  part  of  upper  Burma 
which  at  that  time  was  known  to  Europeans  was  the 
Irawadi  River  from  Rangoon  and  Bassein  to  Ava,  over 
which  so  many  British  envoys  had  travelled  on  humili- 
ating embassies.  Lieutenant  Woods,  who  accompanied 
Symes  to  Ava  in  1798,  had  made  a survey  of  this  part  of 
the  river,  and  Dr.  Buchanan  on  the  same  occasion  had 
collected  a considerable  amount  of  information  relating 
to  the  districts  traversed.  Writing  in  1835,  Pemberton 
states  that  to  the  geographical  and  statistical  facts  ascer- 
tained by  these  officers  no  material  addition  had  been 
made  up  to  the  time  of  the  outbreak  of  the  first  Burmese 
war,  and  he  mentions  that  the  frontier  officers  had  been 
blamed  for  this  by  the  Government  of  India.  It  was 
forgotten  that  the  attitude  maintained  by  the  British 
authorities  in  Calcutta  towards  the  Court  of  Ava  had 
fostered  and  flattered  the  natural  arrogance  of  the  Bur- 
mese ; that  the  humiliations  inflicted  with  impunity  upon 
our  envoys  had  brought  us  nothing  but  contempt;  and 
that  the  Burmese  frontier  chiefs,  sublimely  conscious  of 
their  innate  superiority  to  a mere  white  man,  had  reso- 

*55 


2S6  FURTHER  INDIA 


lutely  declined  to  permit  our  officers  to  acquaint  them- 
selves with  the  districts  beyond  their  jurisdiction.  In 
these  circumstances  information  gleaned  from  native 
sources — information  of  a notoriously  inaccurate  and 
unsatisfactory  description — was  the  best  that  could  be 
placed  at  the  service  of  Sir  Archibald  Campbell  when 
he  assumed  the  command  of  our  army  in  the  field,  and  it 
is  fortunate  that  the  war  was  brought  to  a termination 
by  the  peace  of  Yandabu  before  the  march  upon  Ava 
via  Arakan,  which  he  at  one  time  contemplated,  had  been 
attempted.  In  the  absence  of  all  local  knowledge  such 
a venture  might  quite  easily  have  ended  in  disaster,  and 
realising  this  the  Government  of  India  determined  to 
avoid  having  again  to  fight  in  the  dark  in  this  fashion — 
at  any  rate  in  so  far  as  Burma  was  concerned.  From 
this  time  forward,  therefore,  no  opportunity  of  acquiring 
knowledge  of  the  topography  of  Burma  was  suffered  to 
escape,  and  the  exploration  of  the  country  by  English- 
men began  in  earnest. 

Major  Burney,  as  we  have  seen,  was  appointed  British 
Resident  at  Ava  on  December  31st,  1829.  Travelling 
via  Rangoon  he  reached  his  post  in  the  following  April. 
Even  after  the  defeat  which  it  had  suffered  and  the  loss 
of  Tenasserim,  the  Court  of  Ava  had  not  learned  its 
lesson,  and  its  arrogance  was  unabated.  Burney  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  his  audience  of  the  King  on  a day 
which  was  not  a Kodau,  or  “ beg-pardon  day,”  and  was 
the  first  of  our  envoys  to  do  so  and  to  avoid  being 
paraded  round  the  palace,  bowing  humbly  to  it,  before 
gaining  admittance  to  the  presence  chamber.  None  the 
less  he  was  forced  to  unslipper  at  the  entrance  to  the 


EXPLORATION  IN  BURMA  257 


audience  hall,  and  he  owed  it  entirely  to  his  own  astute- 
ness and  firmness  that  he  escaped  being  the  victim  of 
numerous  other  impertinences.  In  spite  of  his  inau- 
spicious beginning,  Burney  gradually  won  a considerable 
influence  at  the  Court,  and  during  the  eight  years  that 
he  resided  at  Ava  the  British  were  more  free  than  ever 
before  to  come  and  go  through  the  country  under  Bur- 
man  jurisdiction. 

In  August,  1830,  Lieutenant  Pemberton,  who  had  been 
serving  in  Manipur,  travelled  overland  to  Ava,  and  in 
company  with  Burney  succeeded  in  settling  certain  out- 
standing boundary  disputes.  He  came  over  the  moun- 
tains by  the  Akui  route  to  Kindat,  and  so  through  the 
valley  of  the  Chindwin,  the  great  right  tributary  of  the 
Irawadi,  to  the  mouth  of  that  river  and  thence  to  Ava, 
thus  filling  in  a large  blank  upon  the  then  existing  map  of 
north-western  Burma.  On  January  20th  of  the  following 
year  Dr.  Richardson  left  Ava,  in  obedience  to  instructions 
given  to  him  by  Burney,  and  made  his  way  overland  to 
Shwebo,  then  a town  of  less  than  1,000  houses,  sur- 
rounded by  a dilapidated  wall  and  a dry  ditch,  and  con- 
taining a large  pagoda  and  the  ruins  of  a once  royal 
palace.  Shwebo,  which  lies  some  five  and  sixty  miles 
to  the  north-west  of  Mandalay,  is  now  the  first  station  of 
importance  on  the  railway  line  from  that  place  to  Katha. 
Richardson  reached  Shwebo  on  January  23rd,  and  thence 
went  in  a westerly  direction  to  a small  jungle  village 
called  Benthi,  where  the  track  turned  abruptly  to  the 
north.  The  Chindwin,  or  Ningthi,  River  was  struck  at 
Thun-buk  on  January  28th,  and  Maukadau  was  reached 
on  the  following  day.  From  this  place  the  track  lay 


258 


FURTHER  INDIA 


through  jungle,  and  after  passing  several  villages  of 
trifling  importance,  Kendat  was  reached  on  February 
2nd.  Here  Richardson  was  able  to  procure  specimens  of 
the  lignite  found  in  the  vicinity,  and  he  also  heard  of  the 
amber  mines  of  the  Hukong  valley,  some  “ forty  days  up 
the  Chindwin  from  Kendat,”  which  were  subsequently 
visited  by  Captain  Hannay.  At  Kendat  Richardson  was 
joined  by  Captain  Grant,  who  had  come  thither  from 
Manipur.  His  journey  was  the  first  made  by  a white 
man  over  the  Angochin  hills  and  along  the  banks  of  the 
Chindwin  from  Mulfu  to  Kendat,  and  supplemented  the 
geographical  information  collected  by  Pemberton  during 
his  trip  from  Manipur  to  Ava  in  the  preceding  year. 

In  a valuable  report  furnished  by  the  latter  officer  to 
the  Government  of  India  in  1835,  a detailed  account  is 
given  of  the  whole  of  the  eastern  frontier  of  India  as  it 
then  was.  Pemberton  begins  by  describing  from  personal 
observation  the  mountain  system  to  the  north  and  east 
of  Manipur,  and  gives  details  of  three  routes  from  that 
State  into  Burma  territory, — those  by  Akui,  by  Kala 
Naga,  and  through  the  Koki  villages.  He  next,  still  as 
the  result  of  personal  exploration,  gives  a detailed  ac- 
count of  Arakan  and  of  its  communications  with  Chitta- 
gong, passing  on  to  a description  of  the  footpaths  over 
the  Yoma  mountains  from  Arakan  into  Burma.  The 
best  of  these  was  that  by  the  Aeng  Pass,  first  traversed 
by  Captain  David  Ross  with  a small  military  force  in 
March,  1826.  In  1830  this  route  was  explored  to  the 
summit  from  the  Arakan  side  by  Captain  White,  and  in 
September  of  the  same  year  Pemberton  travelled  by  river 
from  Ava  to  Mimbu,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Irawadi, 


EXPLORATION  IN  BURMA  259 


and  thence  tramped  to  Aeng,  whence  he  crossed  the 
range  into  Arakan.  In  March  of  the  following  year, 
accompanied  by  Captain  Jenkins,  he  examined  this  pass 
in  detail  and  reported  upon  it  to  the  Government  of 
India.  Pemberton  was  thus  able  to  furnish  an  exact 
account  of  the  Indian  borders  from  Assam  and  Manipur 
to  Arakan,  and  of  the  routes  leading  therefrom  into 
Burma,  all  of  which  was  mainly  the  result  of  his  own 
explorations ; further,  in  the  same  report,  he  attempts 
some  description  of  the  country  lying  between  India, 
Burma,  and  Yun-nan,  collected  from  native  sources. 

In  1835-36  Captain  S.  F.  Hannay  made  an  important 
journey  from  Ava  to  the  Hukong  valley.  The  occasion 
for  this  was  furnished  by  a dispute  between  the  chiefs 
of  two  tribes  of  Singfos  which  had  led  to  a raid,  headed 
by  one  Dupha  Gam,  into  which  a Burmese  commission 
was  appointed  to  inquire.  Burney  seized  the  opportu- 
nity to  send  an  officer  with  this  commission,  and  Hannay 
accordingly  left  Ava  by  river  in  November,  1835.  Up 
to  this  time  the  valley  of  the  Irawadi  above  Ava  had 
been  completely  unknown  to  Europeans.  In  the  seven- 
teenth century  the  British  certainly,  and  possibly  also  the 
Dutch,  had  had  a factory  at  Bhamo,  but  that  was  not 
the  age  of  exact  survey  or  precise  information,  and 
though  the  name  of  the  place  was  familiarly  known  to 
Europeans  from  that  time  forward,  it  was  virgin  soil  for 
the  explorer  when  Hannay  visited  it. 

Owing  to  the  existence  of  a practical  monopoly  of  the 
trade  with  the  upper  districts  of  the  Irawadi,  which  was 
held  by  the  Chinese  traders  in  Ava,  no  foreigner,  and 
only  Burmese  who  had  obtained  special  authorisation, 


i6o  FURTHER  INDIA 

were  permitted  to  ascend  the  river  above  the  Choki  of 
Tsampaynago,  wherefore  when  Hannay  passed  above 
this  point  he  entered  country  which  had  long  been  closed 
to  all  save  the  natives  inhabiting  it  and  a very  few  men 
from  districts  farther  south.  At  Yedan  the  first  “ kink- 
dwen,”  or  rocky  defile,  was  entered.  Below  it  the  river 
varied  in  breadth  from  a mile  to  two  and  a half  miles ; 
in  the  defile  itself  the  river  narrowed  down  and  in  places 
was  not  more  than  150  yards  from  bank  to  bank.  Great 
bamboo  rafts,  similar  to  those  observed  by  Gamier  in 
Laos,  were  here  met  with,  their  freight  consisting  of 
pickled  tea.  The  defile  was  entered  on  November  30th, 
eight  days  after  leaving  Ava,  and  the  water,  which  at- 
tained a great  depth,  was  described  by  Hannay  as  being 
“ almost  as  still  as  a lake.”  Tsampaynago  was  reached 
on  December  1st,  and  here  the  direction  of  the  famous 
ruby  mines  was  pointed  out  to  the  traveller,  who  judged 
them  to  lie  some  thirty  or  forty  miles  away  behind  a 
conspicuous  peak  called  Shueu  Tung.  At  Tagaung  Myu, 
reached  four  days  later,  Hannay  found  the  crumbling 
remains  of  walls,  all  that  was  left  of  the  city  said  to 
have  been  founded  by  a king  from  western  India,  whose 
descendants  afterwards  founded  kingdoms  at  Prome, 
Pagan  and  Ava.  The  old  fort  of  Tagaung  had  been 
built  of  brick,  and  what  could  still  be  seen  of  it  con- 
vinced Hannay  that  its  architecture  was  peculiar  and 
was  distinct  from  that  of  the  Burmese.  A mile  to  the 
south  Hannay  reported  the  existence  of  the  extensive 
ruins  of  Pagan,  which  he  described  as  stretching  away 
“ as  far  as  the  eye  can  see.”  It  was  in  this  neighbour- 
hood that  teak  trees  first  began  to  appear  on  the  banks 


On  the  Irawadi  River,  in  the  First  Defile 


EXPLORATION  IN  BURMA  261 


of  the  river.  From  Tagaung  Hannay  also  took  a cross- 
bearing to  the  ruby  mines,  which  he  placed  some  45  or 
50  miles  to  the  east  of  his  point  of  observation. 

At  Yebuk  Yua  boats  bringing  Chinese  merchants  from 
Bhamo  were  passed,  and  on  December  13th  Katha  was 
reached.  The  river  here  ran  between  high  banks  which 
were  about  a quarter  of  a mile  apart,  and  Hannay  esti- 
mated its  volume  and  velocity  at  52,272  cubic  feet  per 
second,  which  would  be  about  two-thirds  of  that  of  the 
Ganges  at  the  same  season.  Katha  was  at  this  time  a 
town  of  only  some  400  houses,  that  is  to  say  about  2,000 
souls.  By  December  17th  the  traveller  had  entered  the 
great  curve  of  the  Irawadi  from  east  to  west  which  leads 
from  Bhamo  to  Katha,  and  soon  the  increasing  number 
of  villages  upon  the  river’s  banks  showed  that  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  former  town  was  reached.  The  island 
of  Kywundo,  upon  which  stand  a hundred  pagodas,  was 
passed  just  below  the  entrance  to  the  second  kink-dwen, 
a defile  which  is  pent  between  hills  averaging  some  400 
feet  in  height ; in  one  place  where  the  height  is  500  feet, 
the  side  of  the  defile  is  described  as  being  “ as  perpen- 
dicular as  a wall.”  This  defile  is  some  four  miles  in 
length,  and  the  cliffs  on  either  hand  are  composed  of 
sandstone  upon  a base  of  blue  limestone  veined  in  places 
by  streaks  of  white  marble. 

On  December  20th  Kungtun  was  reached,  and  here 
Hannay  met  people  of  the  “ wild  ” tribe  called  Kakhyens 
who  belong  to  a type  which  is  clearly  not  Tatar,  and 
nearly  resembles  that  of  the  Caucasian  races.  The  next 
day  the  traveller  arrived  at  Bhamo  itself,  the  “ largest 
place  in  Burma  except  Ava  and  Rangoon,”  consisting  at 


162 


FURTHER  INDIA 


the  time  of  Hannay’s  visit  of  about  1,500  houses,  or  2,000 
including  its  immediate  environs,  and  having  a popu- 
lation of  some  9,000  souls.  The  Chinese  quarter  was 
composed  of  200  houses,  and  from  the  Chinese  traders 
Hannay  obtained  some  valuable  information  concerning 
the  passes  from  Bhamo  into  Yun-nan.  The  best  route 
lay,  as  does  the  highway  now  in  use,  up  the  valley  of  the 
Ta-ping  River  to  Ta-li-fu  via  Yung-Chang,  the  river 
itself  being  crossed  by  a ferry.  Geographers  had  for  a 
long  time  been  of  opinion  that  the  Ta-ping  was  identical 
with  the  Tsangpo,  the  course  of  which  after  its  disap- 
pearance in  Tibet  was  then  not  known.  The  information 
which  Hannay  collected  concerning  the  size  of  the  Ta- 
ping, and  the  fact  that  it  falls  into  the  Irawadi  on  the 
left  bank  of  that  river,  disposed  once  for  all  of  this 
opinion,  the  Tsangpo  being,  as  a matter  of  fact,  the 
name  borne  in  its  uppermost  reaches  by  the  Brahma- 
putra. None  the  less,  the  identity  of  the  Tsangpo  with 
the  upper  course  of  the  Irawadi  was  advanced  by  Mgr. 
de  Mazure,  Vicar  Apostolic  of  Tibet,  and  received  a 
qualified  endorsement  from  Yule,  as  late  as  1861. 

After  leaving  Bhamo  Hannay  found  the  country 
through  which  the  Irawadi  ran  far  more  hilly  than  any 
hitherto  traversed.  The  third  defile  was  entered  at 
Thaphan  Beng,  and  here  the  river  was  sometimes  not 
more  than  eighty  yards  across.  At  a village  above  this 
defile  a new  tribe  of  “ wild  ” folk  was  met  with — the 
Phwongs — who  built  their  long  houses  on  piles  and 
placed  the  thatch  upon  the  roofs  in  such  a fashion  that 
it  nearly  touched  the  ground  on  either  side.  On  Decem- 
ber 26th  the  part  of  the  Irawadi  in  which  navigation 


The  Bazaar  at  Bhamo 


EXPLORATION  IN  BURMA  263 


becomes  most  dangerous  was  reached,  the  stream  being 
beset  with  rapids  and  the  country  around  showing  obvi- 
ous traces  of  volcanic  disturbance.  At  Tshenbo,  a point 
some  ten  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Mogaung  River, 
the  boats  which  had  brought  the  party  from  Ava  were 
exchanged  for  others  of  smaller  size  and  more  shallow 
draught,  but  it  is  noticeable  that  as  far  as  this,  that  is  to 
say  some  400  miles  above  Ava,  the  Irawadi  had  been 
proved  to  be  navigable  for  large  native  boats. 

The  mouth  of  the  Mogaung  was  reached  on  December 
31st,  exactly  40  days  after  the  start  from  Ava,  and  Han- 
nay  fixed  the  latitude  of  this  point  by  astronomical 
observation  at  240  56'  53",  which,  however,  puts  it  in  a 
position  somewhat  more  to  the  south  than  that  which  it 
really  occupies.  He  here  quitted  the  Irawadi,  which  he 
described  as  “ still  a fine  river  a mile  broad,”  flowing  at 
the  rate  of  about  two  miles  an  hour  and  having  a depth 
of  from  two  to  three  fathoms. 

The  Mogaung  River,  which  Hannay  now  entered,  was 
found  to  be  barely  100  yards  in  width,  its  bed  much  im- 
peded by  rapids,  its  banks  smothered  in  dense  jungle. 
Above  the  village  of  Tapoh,  the  rapids  having  been  passed, 
the  river  widened  out  to  about  200  yards  in  breadth,  and 
on  January  5th,  after  five  and  forty  days  of  almost  unin- 
terrupted travelling,  Hannay  reached  Mogaung.  This 
place,  situated  at  the  junction  of  the  Nam  Yun  and  Nam 
Yong  Rivers  with  the  Nam  Kong,  or  Mogaung  River, 
was  found  to  be  a town  of  some  300  houses,  containing 
a population  of  about  1,500  souls.  It  is  to-day  the  ter- 
minus of  the  railway  from  Katha,  which  is  still  under 
construction.  At  the  time  of  Hannay’s  visit  it  was  de- 


264  FURTHER  INDIA 

fended  from  attack  from  the  lawless  tribes  in  its  vicinity 
by  a timber  stockade. 

At  Mogaung  Hannay  was  forced  to  wait  for  several 
days  before  he  was  able  to  start  upon  his  projected  trip 
to  the  amber  mines  of  the  Hukong  valley,  but  on  Janu- 
ary 19th  some  of  the  escort  crossed  the  river  and  sacri- 
ficed a buffalo  to  the  Ngatgyi,  or  spirits  of  the  “ Three 
Brother  Tsanhuas,”  at  that  time  a necessary  preliminary 
ceremony  without  which  no  expedition  could  march  from 
the  town.  Three  days  later  a start  was  made,  and  for 
two  days  the  travellers  trudged  through  hilly  country, 
the  way  leading  amid  defiles  through  the  spurs  of  the 
Shuedung  Gyi  range  on  the  east  and  irregular  broken 
country  on  the  west.  On  January  30th  a descent  into 
the  Hukong  valley  was  made,  the  valley  itself  being,  in 
Hannay’s  opinion,  the  ancient  bed  of  an  Alpine  lake,  its 
greatest  length  from  north  to  north-east  being  about  50 
miles,  its  width  varying  from  15  to  45  miles.  The  Chind- 
win  River,  the  lower  portion  of  which  had  already  been 
explored  by  Pemberton  in  his  journey  from  Manipur,  and 
by  Richardson  and  Grant,  ran  through  this  valley,  and 
the  district  was  peopled  by  Singfos  and  their  Assamese 
slaves,  one  Shan  colony  being  established  at  a village 
called  Meingkhwon.  Salt  and  gold  were  found  in  the 
valley,  but  the  only  traffic  of  importance  was  in  amber 
which  the  Singfos  worked  and  sold  to  the  Chinese. 

Hannay  obtained  some  information  concerning  the 
routes  from  this  valley  to  eastern  Singfo,  one  being 
through  a pass  in  the  Shuedung  Gyi  range,  another 
round  the  base  of  the  Lye-guepbhum  mountain.  From 
Meingkhwon  he  located  a hill,  distant  some  25  miles 


EXPLORATION  IN  BURMA  265 


from  that  place  and  lying  350  to  the  west,  as  the  source 
of  the  Uru  River,  one  of  the  principal  tributaries  of  the 
Chindwin  or  Ningthi.  On  March  21st  he  visited  the 
amber  mines,  but  saw  no  amber  of  any  value,  the  miners 
having  prudently  hidden  any  that  they  possessed  through 
fear  of  the  Burmese  who  accompanied  him.  Later  he 
made  a trip  to  the  banks  of  the  Chindwin  at  a point  five 
miles  north  of  Meingkhwon,  and  found  the  river  meas- 
uring three  hundred  yards  from  bank  to  bank.  On  April 
1 2th  he  returned  to  Mogaung.  Here  he  obtained  infor- 
mation concerning  the  serpentine  mines  which  lay  some 
two  days’  journey  above  Mogaung,  and  learned  that 
about  1,000  men  were  at  work  in  them.  He  had  no 
opportunity,  however,  of  visiting  these  mines,  as  he  im- 
mediately afterwards  started  for  Ava,  where  he  arrived 
on  May  1st,  having  accomplished  the  journey  from 
Meingkhwon,  including  the  trudge  across  the  hills  to 
Mogaung,  in  eighteen  days. 

Hannay’s  achievement  was  of  considerable  importance, 
because  the  Irawadi  from  Ava  to  Bhamo  and  the  mouth 
of  the  Mogaung  had  now  been  explored  by  him  for 
the  first  time,  no  accurate  record  of  its  course  having 
been  left  by  the  European  traders  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. Through  him,  too,  Bhamo  had  become  something 
more  than  a name  to  the  geographers  of  Europe.  He 
had  further  visited  and  determined  the  position  of  the 
Hukong  valley  and  its  amber  mines,  and  had  fixed  with 
a fair  approximation  to  accuracy  the  latitudes  of  all  the 
principal  towns  of  the  Irawadi  valley  between  Ava  and 
Meingkhwon.  In  addition  to  this  he  had  added  a great 
deal  of  information  to  the  knowledge  then  possessed  of 


1 66 


FURTHER  INDIA 


the  course  of  the  Chindwin  River,  filling  in  blanks  which 
had  been  left  by  Wilcox  working  on  the  Assam  boundary, 
and  by  Pemberton  in  his  journeys  from  Manipur,  though 
he  had  not  actually  cut  the  routes  of  either  of  these 
officers.  The  information  which  he  brought  back  con- 
cerning the  Ta-ping  River  also  disposed  of  the  attempts 
which  had  been  made  to  identify  it  with  the  Tsangpo 
of  Tibet,  and  his  account  of  the  Irawadi  rendered  the 
hypothesis  that  the  Tsangpo  was  a continuation  of  the 
Irawadi  very  improbable,  though  the  identification  of  the 
Tibetan  river  with  the  Brahmaputra  was  not  made  until 
more  than  thirty  years  later. 

In  March  of  1837,  the  year  after  that  in  which  Han- 
nay’s  journey  was  made,  Griffiths  crossed  the  Naga  hills 
from  Assam  and  visited  the  Hukong  valley,  thus  joining 
up  Wilcox’s  explorations  and  those  of  the  explorer  whose 
travels  we  have  just  been  following.  Wilcox,  whose 
work  lies  beyond  the  scope  of  our  inquiry,  had  been 
employed  from  1825  to  1828  in  making  a survey  for  the 
Indian  Government  of  the  country  of  Assam  and  its 
neighbouring  States,  and  had  succeeded  in  the  course  of 
his  work  in  determining  the  western  sources  of  the  Ira- 
wadi. Between  December,  1836,  and  May,  1837,  the 
journey  from  Ava  to  the  frontiers  of  Assam  was  made 
by  Dr.  G.  T.  Bayfield,  who  returned  to  the  capital  in  the 
latter  month.  Burney  had  taken  the  opportunity  of 
attaching  him  to  a Burmese  commission  which  was  being 
sent  from  Ava  to  Assam,  and  he  travelled  over  the  same 
route  as  that  followed  by  Hannay  as  far  as  Meingkhwon. 
From  this  point  he  travelled  north-west  to  Lamung,  and 
at  Maguegun  effected  a meeting  with  Hannay  and  Grif- 


EXPLORATION  IN  BURMA  267 


fiths,  who  had  come  across  the  hills  from  Assam  and 
who  returned  with  him  to  Ava. 

Meanwhile,  British  explorers  were  also  busy  farther 
to  the  south  and  east.  On  December  nth,  1829,  Dr. 
Richardson  left  Maulmain  on  his  first  journey  to  Chieng 
Mai,  the  important  town  at  the  head  of  the  valley  of  the 
Menam.  He  ascended  the  Salwin  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Yam  Byne,  which  he  reached  on  December  14th,  and 
landing  here  made  his  way  across  hills  into  the  valley 
of  the  Me  Gnau  and  thence  into  that  of  the  Mein-lung- 
hi,  both  of  which  streams  belong  to  the  drainage-area 
of  the  Salwin.  The  frontier  station  of  Mein-lung-hi, 
near  the  junction  of  the  stream  of  that  name  with  the 
Thung-yin,  was  at  this  time  an  important  place,  since 
all  traders  from  Maulmain  and  the  Shan  States  en  route 
for  the  Karin  country  passed  through  it.  Richardson 
reached  this  place  on  January  1st,  1830,  and  did  not 
resume  his  march  until  the  6th.  On  the  10th,  after 
climbing  over  a huddle  of  hills  for  four  days,  he  at  last 
sighted  the  Me-ping  River,  the  great  western  branch  of 
the  Menam  upon  which  Chieng  Mai  is  situated.  The 
next  day  the  descent  into  the  valley  of  the  Me-ping  was 
made,  the  river  being  struck  at  Muong  Haut,  or  Muong 
Hal,  where  the  Me-ping  measures  747  feet  in  width. 
The  country  traversed  between  the  Salwin  and  the  Me- 
ping  was  described  by  Richardson  as  “ one  succession  of 
mountains ; nearly  all  of  the  primitive  series,  principally 
gneiss,  trap,  lime  and  sandstone.”  The  inhabitants  of 
these  hills  were  mostly  Karins,  and  the  population  was 
sparse  and  scattered.  From  Muong  Haut  Richardson 
ascended  the  valley  of  the  Me-ping,  passing  over  level 


268 


FURTHER  INDIA 


country  and  grassy  plains,  until  on  January  15th  he 
reached  Labong,  or  Lampun.  He  was  not  permitted, 
however,  to  proceed  to  Chieng  Mai,  and  after  remaining 
nearly  a month  at  Labong,  where  he  contrived  to  estab- 
lish very  friendly  relations  with  the  Laos  Governor,  he 
began  his  return  journey  on  February  9th.  On  his  way 
back  he  struck  south  from  Yembing  to  the  Gyne  River, 
and  returned  to  Maulmain  in  boats,  arriving  at  his  jour- 
ney’s end  on  March  10th. 

In  1834  Dr.  Richardson  was  again  despatched  on  a 
mission  to  Chieng  Mai,  the  object  of  which  was  to  in- 
quire into  the  causes  of  the  cessation  of  the  cattle  trade 
between  the  Shan  States  and  Maulmain.  He  left  the 
latter  place  on  March  6th,  and  followed  the  route  which 
he  had  passed  over  in  1829-30  as  far  as  Labong,  where 
he  arrived  on  April  1st.  On  April  15th,  having  at  last 
procured  permission  to  visit  Chieng  Mai,  he  left  Labong 
and  reached  his  destination  after  a march  of  five  and  a 
half  hours.  He  remained  at  Chieng  Mai  till  April  24th, 
when  he  once  more  returned  to  Labong.  On  April  29th 
he  started  on  his  return  journey  to  Maulmain,  where  he 
arrived  by  his  old  route  on  May  21st.  The  rainy  season 
had  begun  before  he  left  Labong,  and  the  march  had  to 
be  made  through  an  incessant  downpour  which  greatly 
tried  the  endurance  of  the  party. 

So  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  Dr.  Richardson  was  the 
first  European  to  visit  Chieng  Mai  from  the  Bay  of 
Bengal,  though  the  unhappy  trader  Samuel,  who  was 
carried  off  to  Ava  from  that  town  in  1618,  as  has  already 
been  related,  may  possibly  have  traversed  the  route  fol- 
lowed by  Richardson  as  far  as  Mein-lung-hi  on  his  com- 


Plain,  South  of  Bhamo 


EXPLORATION  IN  BURMA  269 


pulsory  journey  to  the  Burmese  capital.  Richardson’s 
main  object  in  these  two  journeys,  and  in  the  third  which 
he  made  to  Chieng  Mai  in  1834-35,  was  the  establish- 
ment of  trade  between  the  Shan  States  and  the  newly 
acquired  British  territories  of  lower  Burma.  Concern- 
ing the  condition  of  the  districts  traversed  he  brought 
back  a great  deal  of  valuable  information,  and  he  also 
collected  a considerable  amount  of  geographical  data 
concerning  a hitherto  unexplored  region.  In  the  Decem- 
ber following  his  return  to  Maulmain  he  again  started 
for  Chieng  Mai,  travelling  by  the  now  familiar  route  via 
Mein-lung-hi  and  Labong,  and  on  his  arrival  on  January 
26th,  1835,  he  had  the  good  fortune  to  meet  a big  caravan 
from  China,  consisting  of  some  200  mules  and  pack- 
horses,  while  a second  still  larger  caravan  was  reported 
to  be  at  Muong  Nan.  The  information  which  he  col- 
lected from  these  Chinese  merchants  on  the  subject  of 
the  trade-route  to  Yun-nan  via  Chieng  Tong  and  Chieng 
Hong  on  the  Mekong,  led  directly  to  McLeod’s  being 
entrusted  with  the  mission  to  which  we  have  already 
referred.  On  this  journey,  too,  Richardson  visited  La- 
kon,  a town  on  the  Me-wang,  the  great  left  influent  of 
the  Me-ping,  this  being  the  first  occasion  upon  which  the 
place  had  been  visited  by  a white  man  from  the  Burmese 
side.  From  Lakon  he  returned  to  Labong,  which  he  left 
on  March  25th,  reaching  Mein-lung-hi  on  the  last  day 
of  that  month.  From  this  point  he  passed  through  mag- 
nificent teak  forests  towards  the  Salwin,  crossing  the 
divide  on  April  5th,  and  striking  the  great  river  at 
Banong  on  the  9th.  The  Salwin  was  here  found  to  be 
400  yards  in  width,  running  rapidly  through  a narrow 


FURTHER  INDIA 


270 

valley.  Crossing  the  river,  Richardson  penetrated  into 
the  Karin  country  as  far  as  Dwom  Tulve,  and  was  fairly 
well  received  by  the  Karins,  the  almost  barbarous  hill- 
men  who  had  contrived  to  maintain  their  independence 
and  whose  predatory  raids  in  search  of  Shan  slaves  were 
at  this  time  the  terror  of  the  little  States  owing  allegiance 
to  Ava.  After  spending  nearly  a month  at  Dwom  Tulve, 
Richardson  returned  by  his  original  route  to  Mein-lung- 
hi,  and  thence  made  his  way  down  to  Maulmain  by  the 
trade-track  over  which  he  had  now  so  often  passed. 

In  December,  1836,  Richardson  again  left  Maulmain, 
this  time  in  company  with  McLeod,  and  proceeded  up 
the  Gyne  River.  On  the  fourth  day  the  travellers  landed 
at  the  last  village  in  British  territory,  and  thence  pro- 
ceeded on  elephant-back,  crossing  the  boundary  between 
British  and  Siamese  territory  on  December  25th,  twelve 
days  after  their  departure  from  Maulmain.  Next  day 
McLeod  branched  off,  following  a track  to  Chieng  Mai 
somewhat  to  the  south  of  the  route  by  which  Richardson 
had  reached  that  place;  from  Chieng  Mai  he  hoped  to 
enter  China  via  Chieng  Tong  and  Chieng  Hong.  With 
the  details  of  McLeod’s  journey  we  are  already  ac- 
quainted. Richardson,  having  other  plans,  went  on  to 
Mein-lung-hi,  where  he  arrived  on  New  Year’s  Day, 
1837,  and  which  he  left  on  6th  January.  The  Mein- 
lung-hi  being  too  deep  to  ford  at  this  season  of  the  year, 
he  departed  by  a route  which  is  only  used  during  the 
monsoon.  This  passed  through  uninhabited  country, 
and  brought  him  to  the  Sal  win  in  180  16'  N.  Lat.  on 
January  16th.  Having  crossed  the  river,  Richardson 
made  his  way  as  before  to  Dwom  Tulve  in  the  Karin 


EXPLORATION  IN  BURMA  271 


country,  where  he  arranged  with  the  Pha  Pho,  the 
Chief  of  the  hillmen,  to  grant  him  a free  passage 
through  the  Karin  territory.  On  February  6th  he  again 
started,  journeying  through  country  which  had  never 
before  been  traversed  by  a white  man.  The  first  two 
days  led  through  mountains,  and  the  country  next  en- 
tered was  found  to  be  hilly  and  treeless,  but  very  care- 
fully and  completely  cultivated.  Seven  days’  steady 
marching  through  this  hilly  region  brought  Richardson 
from  Dwom  Tulve  to  Ka-du-gyi,  the  first  Burmese  vil- 
lage on  the  Ava  side : the  country  of  the  Red  Karins 
had  at  last  been  traversed  by  a white  man.  It  was  dis- 
covered to  be  at  once  more  extensive  and  more  thickly 
populated  than  had  hitherto  been  suspected,  but  of  the 
trade  of  the  district  Richardson  entertained  no  very 
great  hopes.  Tin  and  stick-lac  were  both  obtained  in 
abundance,  but  the  one  was  too  heavy,  the  other  too 
bulky,  to  be  exported  with  ease,  with  the  means  of 
transport  then  available.  Moreover,  the  Red  Karins 
“ entertained  the  most  rancorous  enmity  to  the  Bur- 
mans,”  and  the  people — with  whom,  however,  Richard- 
son had  established  good  relations — were  little  removed 
from  savagery. 

“ Theirs,”  he  writes,  “ is  the  first  and  rudest  stage  of 
an  agricultural  population ; their  habitations  are  miser- 
able and  destitute  of  everything  that  conduces  to  the 
comfort  of  human  beings,  to  which  they  are  scarcely 
allowed  by  the  Burmans  to  belong.  Nearly  all  their 
present  limited  wants  are  supplied  within  themselves. 
They  only  traffic  in  stick-lac  which  is  produced  in  great 
quantities,  and  slaves  which  they  capture  from  the  Shan 


272  FURTHER  INDIA 

villages  subject  to  the  Burmans  lying  along  their  fron- 
tier. From  three  hundred  to  four  hundred  are  annually 
bartered  with  the  Siamese  Shans  for  black  cattle,  buffa- 
loes, salt  and  betel-nut.” 

On  February  13th  Richardson  reached  Kudu,  on  the 
borders  of  Karini  and  Burma,  and  continuing  his  jour- 
ney on  the  15th,  he  three  days  later  reached  Mok-mai,  a 
stockaded  town  of  300  or  350  houses,  where  his  appear- 
ance was  greeted  by  riotous  and  insulting  crowds  of 
sightseers.  The  superior  civilisation  of  the  Shans,  as 
compared  with  their  Karin  neighbours,  did  not  manifest 
itself  in  improved  manners  or  in  a power  to  curb  their 
curiosity. 

On  February  20th  Richardson  left  Mok-mai  for  Monai, 
another  Shan  State  under  the  rule  of  Ava.  The  first  day’s 
march  brought  him  to  Lome,  the  first  place  met  with  that 
“ considered  itself  fairly  safe  from  the  forays  of  the 
Kareens,  which  they  compare  to  the  swoop  of  a hawk.” 
Even  at  Mok-mai  the  natives  did  not  dare  to  wander  far 
from  their  stockade,  so  lawless  and  ubiquitous  were  the 
hill  slave-traders,  and  so  utterly  inefficient  the  Burmese 
Government  whose  duty  it  was  to  protect  its  subjects. 
At  Monai  Richardson  was  detained  42  days,  awaiting 
the  authorisation  to  proceed  which  Burney  was  trying  to 
obtain  for  him  at  the  Court  of  Ava;  but  on  April  6th  a 
start  was  made,  Hai-pek  being  reached  on  the  following 
day.  Thence  the  track  led  through  hilly  and  undulating 
country  where  the  soil  was  exceedingly  poor,  and  on 
April  1 6th  news  of  the  revolution  at  Ava,  whereby 
Tharawadi  made  himself  master  of  Burma,  reached  the 
travellers.  On  the  morrow  the  escort  from  Monai  beat 


Second  Defile  of  the  Irawadi 


EXPLORATION  IN  BURMA  273 


a hasty  retreat,  having  no  desire  to  get  nearer  to  the 
scene  of  trouble,  but  Richardson  pushed  on  to  Neaung 
Shevvai,  where  he  spent  an  anxious  month  of  inactivity. 
On  May  13th,  however,  he  received  orders  to  proceed  to 
Ava,  which  had  been  procured  for  him  by  Burney,  and 
on  the  1 8th  he  resumed  his  march.  He  made  his  way 
across  the  mountains,  descending  the  Nat  Tike  pass — 
“ the  longest  and  most  laborious  pass  in  the  Burmese 
dominions  ” — into  the  valley  of  the  Irawadi.  Here  he 
found  himself  on  a great  plain  called  the  Lap-dau,  or 
royal  elds,  which  extends  to  the  hills  east  and  north  of 
Mandalay  and  away  to  the  mountains  of  the  Manipuri 
frontier.  Four  days’  trudge  across  this  plain  brought 
Richardson,  on  May  28th,  to  the  British  Residency  at 
Ava.  His  was  the  first  journey  ever  made  by  a Euro- 
pean from  Maulmain  to  Mandalay,  and  in  the  course  of 
it  he  had  explored  the  hitherto  unknown  country  of  the 
Karins,  and  the  Shan  States  lying  between  that  country 
and  Ava.  Richardson’s  journey  served  to  link  up  the 
British  possessions  in  lower  Burma  with  the  region  ex- 
plored under  Burney’s  auspices  farther  to  the  north  and 
west.  At  the  same  time  McLeod’s  journey  had  added 
to  the  map  many  details  of  the  eastern  Shan  States  be- 
tween the  Salwin  and  the  Mekong. 

In  December,  1838,  Richardson  once  more  left  Maul- 
main upon  one  of  his  venturesome  journeys,  travelling 
this  time  on  elephants  over  the  main  range  of  mountains 
which  divides  Tenasserim  from  Siam,  and  making  his 
way  to  Bangkok  via,  Kanburi  on  the  Me-klong  River. 
This  journey  will  be  described  more  fully  in  the  chapter 
which  deals  with  the  exploration  of  Siam.  It  was  the 


*74  FURTHER  INDIA 

last  of  a series  of  remarkable  explorations,  many  of  which 
had  been  made  by  Richardson  himself,  which  were  under- 
taken during  the  decade  following  Burney’s  appointment 
to  the  post  of  British  Resident  at  Ava.  The  Burmese 
revolution  of  1837  led  to  the  withdrawal  of  our  Resident, 
and  from  that  time  until  the  war  of  1852  little  official 
intercourse  was  held  with  Ava,  and  the  work  of  explora- 
tion necessarily  ceased  for  a space.  After  the  war  Major 
Arthur  Phayre,  who  had  been  appointed  Governor  of 
Pegu,  the  province  annexed  by  Great  Britain,  was  sent 
to  Ava  on  an  embassy  in  1855,  and  Captain  Henry  Yule 
— afterwards  so  well  known  as  Colonel  Sir  Henry  Yule, 
the  Orientalist  and  the  editor  of  the  Book  of  Messer 
Marco  Polo — accompanied  the  party  and  acted  as  its 
chronicler.  Yule’s  own  contributions  to  the  study  of 
Burmese  history  and  topography  are  considerable,  though 
they  represented  comparatively  little  in  the  nature  of 
original  research,  most  of  his  information  having  been 
collected  by  others.  In  1856,  however,  he  devoted  him- 
self to  the  production  of  a map  of  Burma,  in  so  far  as 
the  country  was  then  known  to  Europeans,  and  pub- 
lished it  in  the  Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal 
with  a long  commentary  from  his  own  pen.  This  map 
embodied  the  results  of  all  the  explorations  with  which 
we  have  already  dealt,  and  further  profited  by  the  sur- 
veys made  by  Captain  Rennie  and  Lieutenant  Heath- 
cote,  who  also  had  accompanied  Phayre  on  his  mission 
to  Ava  in  the  preceding  year.  In  Burma  proper  below 
Ava,  the  interior  towns  and  districts,  Yule  tells  us,  had 
been  filled  in  from  native  information  by  Major  Grant 
Allen  of  the  Madras  Army,  and  this  part  of  the  map 


Colonel  Sir  H.  Yule,  K.C.S.I.,  C.B. 


EXPLORATION  IN  BURMA  275 


was,  therefore,  confessedly  inaccurate.  For  the  rest  the 
country  lying  between  the  Salwin  and  the  Me-ping  Riv- 
ers is  blank,  as  also  is  the  large  tract  north  of  Chieng 
Mai  and  south  of  the  Salwin  valley.  Similar  blanks 
occur  between  Tungu  and  Yemethin,  points  which  to-day 
are  joined  to  one  another  by  a line  of  railway  leading 
from  Rangoon  to  Mandalay ; between  the  Arakan  Yoma 
range  and  the  Chindwin  River ; and  again  in  the  northern 
districts  between  the  Chindwin  and  the  Irawadi.  This 
map,  however,  in  spite  of  all  its  deficiencies,  was  in  1856 
by  far  the  best  that  had  ever  been  put  together  of  these 
regions,  and  a glance  at  the  copy  of  it  here  reproduced 
will  show  the  reader  how  substantial  was  the  progress 
which  had  been  made  during  the  period  that  elapsed  be- 
tween the  first  and  second  Burmese  wars. 

By  the  peace  concluded  at  the  end  of  1852,  not  only 
had  Pegu  been  ceded  to  Great  Britain,  Rangoon  becom- 
ing from  that  time  forward  the  capital  of  British  or 
lower  Burma,  but  agencies  were  opened  at  Ava  and 
Tungu.  The  territory  ceded  after  the  war  of  1826  had 
already  been  surveyed  by  the  British  Government  with 
more  or  less  detail  and  accuracy,  while  Richardson  had 
not  only  explored  the  main  range  between  Tenasserim 
and  the  Me-klong  valley  in  1838-39,  as  has  already  been 
mentioned,  but  in  company  with  Captain  G.  B.  Tremen- 
heere  had  walked  across  the  Isthmus  of  Kra  from  Pak- 
chan  to  Chimpohun,  within  a few  miles  of  the  coast  of 
the  Gulf  of  Siam.  Tremenheere,  who  drew  up  a report 
on  this  trip,  which  was  undertaken  in  1843,  considered 
that  the  Kra  canal  scheme,  of  which  since  that  date  so 
much  has  from  time  to  time  been  heard,  was  “ reasonably 


276  FURTHER  INDIA 

practicable,”  the  difference  of  level  never  exceeding  450 
feet,  and  a rough  estimate  for  a canal  100  feet  wide  of 
rectangular  shape  giving  3,556,640,000  solid  feet  of  ex- 
cavation. In  1856,  by  which  time  the  surveys  of  Pegu 
were  fairly  advanced,  Mr.  Edward  O’Riley  was  sent 
from  Tungu  to  look  for  a trace  across  the  Panglong,  or 
Pegu  Yoma,  range  into  the  Karin  country,  and  crossing 
these  mountains  made  his  way  to  Ngwai  Tung  and  Nung 
Belai,  two  important  Karin  villages  in  the  heart  of  the 
hills  peopled  by  these  tribesmen.  He  returned  to  Maul- 
main  by  the  trade-route  which  had  already  been  famil- 
iarised by  the  explorations  of  Richardson,  and  thence 
made  his  way  back  to  Tungu  by  the  To-lo-hi  villages. 
He  estimated  the  Karin  population  of  the  Pegu  Yoma 
range  at  between  55,000  and  60,000  souls;  he  was  able 
to  determine  the  altitudes  of  several  peaks  and  passes, 
and  his  surveys  formed  a considerable  addition  to  our 
knowledge  of  the  Karin  country. 

But  much  the  most  interesting  journey  of  explora- 
tion undertaken  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Burma,  dur- 
ing the  period  between  the  war  of  1852  and  that  of 
1855,  was  that  of  Captain  Sladen,  and  its  story  is  told 
by  the  leader  of  the  expedition  with  an  amount  of 
humour,  good  temper,  and  high  spirits,  which  presents 
a great  contrast  to  the  dry-as-dust  records  of  travel 
which  reach  us  from  most  of  our  British  explorers  in  this 
region.  Sladen’s  objective  was  Ta-li-fu,  the  capital  of 
the  rebel  Muhammadan  Sultan  in  Yun-nan,  which  Gar- 
nier  succeeded  in  visiting  from  Tong-Chuan  in  March, 
1868.  The  object  of  the  mission  was  to  re-establish  the 
trade  between  Burma  and  Yun-nan,  which  had  long  been 


Forest  Scenery,  Burma 


EXPLORATION  IN  BURMA  277 


interrupted  owing  to  the  protracted  disturbances  in  the 
latter  province.  A start  was  made  from  Mandalay  on 
January  13th,  1868.  The  journey  from  that  place  to 
Bhamo  was  only  remarkable  because  it  was  performed 
for  the  first  time  in  a shallow-draught  steamer,  the  prop- 
erty of  the  King  of  Burma,  and  was  accomplished  with- 
out difficulty  by  January  21st.  The  Irawadi  above  Man- 
dalay was  thus  proved  to  be  navigable  for  steam-vessels 
of  this  description  as  high  up  its  course  as  Bhamo,  and 
Captain  Bowers,  who  accompanied  Sladen,  was  the  first 
to  make  a chart  of  its  bed  between  these  two  points. 

The  expedition  had  been  launched  with  the  consent 
and  approval  of  the  Burmese  King,  but  from  the  outset, 
after  his  arrival  at  Bhamo,  Sladen  found  that  the  influ- 
ence of  native  officialism  was  being  used  in  every  in- 
sidious way  that  could  suggest  itself  to  frustrate  his 
plans.  The  way  from  Bhamo  into  the  provinces  of  west- 
ern China  led  necessarily  through  the  hills  peopled  by 
Kakhyen  tribesmen,  beyond  whose  country  lay  a fringe 
of  Chinese  Shan  States.  The  first  step,  therefore,  was 
to  obtain  the  co-operation  and  goodwill  of  the  Kakhyen 
chiefs ; but  the  Burmese  officers  at  Bhamo  did  their  best 
to  prevent  these  gentry  from  visiting  Sladen,  and  it  was 
not  until  January  31st  that  the  chief  of  Ponlyne  at  last 
came  in. 

“ Half  Burman,  half  Chinese,  as  regarded  his  exter- 
nals, the  hang-dog  expression  of  his  countenance  (dif- 
ferent in  every  respect  from  the  Kakhyen  type,  or  from 
any  type  I had  ever  seen)  was  an  ugly  feature  in  the 
proceedings,  which  did  not  augur  well  for  the  results  of 
our  proposed  conference,”  writes  Sladen. 


278 


FURTHER  INDIA 


Torn  in  twain  by  his  dread  of  incurring  the  anger  of 
the  Burmese  on  the  one  hand,  and  his  reluctance  to  let 
so  excellent  an  opportunity  of  enriching  himself  escape 
him  on  the  other,  this  man  temporised  and  procrasti- 
nated, but  at  last  promised  to  procure  the  necessary  mule 
transport,  and  to  convey  Sladen  and  his  party  as  far 
as  Manwyne,  the  first  Shan  town  on  the  Yun-nan  side 
of  the  hills.  This  pledge,  it  subsequently  transpired,  was 
only  given  with  a view  to  getting  the  expedition  into 
the  hills  where  it  could  be  plundered  at  leisure,  the  Bur- 
mese officials  and  the  Chinese  traders  at  Bhamo,  who 
regarded  with  extreme  disapproval  any  attempt  to  in- 
fringe their  monopoly  of  commerce  with  Yun-nan,  see- 
ing in  this  device  the  most  convenient  way  of  putting 
an  end  to  a troublesome  business. 

On  February  26th  Sladen  at  last  shook  the  dust  of 
Bhamo  from  off  his  feet,  and  marched  to  a point  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ta-ping  River  at  which  the  mules  collected 
by  the  Kakhyen  chief  of  Ponlyne  were  in  waiting  to 
convey  the  party  into  the  hills.  Immense  difficulty  was 
experienced  with  the  mule-drivers,  each  of  whom  was 
“ a sort  of  irresponsible  agent,  demanding  separate  recog- 
nition in  all  that  related  to  the  hire  and  use  of  his  par- 
ticular property.”  Most  of  the  Kakhyens,  chiefs  and 
peasants,  were  drunk,  “ but  this,”  said  Sladen  cheerfully, 
“ seemed  to  be  of  no  consequence,  as  drunkenness  is  the 
normal  condition  of  Kakhyens  when  on  duty,  and  is  not 
regarded  by  them  as  any  real  interruption  to  love  or 
business.”  Owing  to  these  and  other  difficulties  the  ex- 
pedition did  not  get  away  from  Sitkaw,  the  village  where 
the  mules  had  been  met,  until  2 p.m.  on  March  2nd,  Pon- 


EXPLORATION  IN  BURMA  279 


lyne  village  being  reached  at  dusk.  From  this  point 
Sladen  succeeded  in  pushing  on  to  the  village  of  Pon-si, 
but  here  he  was  deserted  by  his  mules  and  mule-men, 
the  latter  not  even  waiting  to  receive  the  hire  that  was 
due  to  them.  At  a subsequent  date  Sladen  learned  that 
the  mule-men  had  been  told  from  the  first  that  as  soon 
as  the  expedition  was  trapped  in  the  hills  it  would  be  set 
upon  by  the  tribesmen,  when  all  who  had  aided  would 
receive  a share  of  the  spoil.  Relying  upon  this  arrange- 
ment they  did  not  wait  to  receive  their  hire,  but  deserted 
hastily,  so  that  the  fighting  which  was  to  enrich  them 
might  begin  with  as  little  delay  as  possible. 

During  its  long  sojourn  at  Pon-si  the  party  was  un- 
questionably in  a position  of  great  danger.  Sladen  could 
neither  move  forward  nor  retreat;  he  refused  absolutely 
to  pay  the  blackmail  which  was  repeatedly  demanded  by 
Ponlyne  and  the  other  Kakhyen  chiefs ; and  he  owed  it 
only  to  his  own  calm  temper,  resource,  and  to  the  bold 
face  which  he  consistently  presented  to  his  persecutors, 
that  he  was  at  length  able  to  extricate  his  party  from 
so  critical  a situation.  His  great  stroke  of  policy  was 
the  opening  up  of  direct  communications  with  the  “ Pan- 
thai,”  as  he  called  the  rebel  Muhammadan  authorities  in 
Yun-nan,  and  as  soon  as  the  Kakhyen  chiefs  learned  that 
he  had  stolen  this  march  upon  them,  their  whole  attitude 
towards  the  Englishmen  changed.  The  rebels  were  more 
feared  than  the  Burmans,  and  the  travellers  had  dis- 
played a considerable  ability  to  take  care  of  themselves 
and  to  make  friends  with  the  rank  and  file  of  the  tribes- 
men, who  were  further  much  impressed  by  the  fact  that 
Sladen’s  escort  possessed  guns  which  would  actually  go 


a8o 


FURTHER  INDIA 


off!  Accordingly  when  it  was  made  known  that  the 
Muhammadan  Government  was  favourable  to  the  ad- 
vance of  the  expedition,  difficulties  vanished  like  smoke. 

The  Muhammadan  Governor  of  Mo-mein,  however, 
urged  Sladen  to  remain  at  Pon-si  for  the  present,  this 
official  having  determined  to  dislodge  the  Chinese  robber 
chief,  Lis-hi-ta-hi,  who  held  a position  commanding  the 
line  of  march  and  had  been  honourably  received  by  the 
King  of  Burma  when  he  paid  a visit  to  Ava.  Mau-phu 
was  the  name  of  the  place  occupied  by  this  ruffian  and 
his  followers,  and  the  Muhammadans  presently  attacked 
and  took  it  with  considerable  slaughter,  thus  clearing  the 
way  for  the  British  expedition.  Captain  Williams,  the 
engineer  of  Sladen’s  party,  unfortunately  elected  to  re- 
turn from  Pon-si  to  Burma,  a decision  which  robbed  the 
expedition  of  some  of  the  detailed  topographical  results 
which  it  might  otherwise  have  obtained,  but  Sladen  and 
the  officers  who  remained  with  him  left  Pon-si  on  May 
nth,  and  resumed  their  long- interrupted  march  through 
the  Kakhyen  hills.  The  Shan  town  of  Manwyne  was 
reached  the  same  day,  and  on  May  14th  the  party  moved 
on  again  to  Sanda.  On  the  way  the  expedition,  which 
had  already  been  the  object  of  futile  demonstrations  of 
hostility  between  Sitkaw  and  Pon-si,  was  treated  to  an- 
other exhibition  of  the  kind,  an  armed  band  of  wildly 
gesticulating  Shans  keeping  parallel  with  the  travellers  on 
the  opposite  bank  of  the  Ta-ping  River,  and  even  firing 
a few  shots  over  their  heads.  The  object  of  this  farce, 
though  it  was  doubtless  connected  with  an  attempt  to 
“ save  the  face  ” of  some  robber  chieftain,  was  never 
satisfactorily  explained,  but  the  Shans  who  were  accom- 


Burman  Family  Group 


EXPLORATION  IN  BURMA  281 


panying  Sladen  treated  the  demonstration  as  something 
of  no  account,  as  indeed  it  proved  to  be.  On  their  own 
side  of  the  Ta-ping  the  travellers  were  received  with 
open  arms  by  the  natives,  who  looked  forward  to  the 
re-establishment,  of  trade  between  Yun-nan  and  Burma 
with  the  keenest  expectation.  After  their  long  captivity 
at  Pon-si — for  indeed  their  sojourn  there  deserved  no 
other  name — the  delight  of  the  travellers  at  finding  them- 
selves upon  the  march  again  was  great,  and  this  was 
enhanced  not  only  by  the  kindliness  of  the  welcome 
afforded  to  them,  but  also  by  the  magnificence  of  the 
country  through  which  they  were  journeying. 

“ The  monotonous  grandeur  of  this  endless  valley,” 
writes  Sladen,  “ with  its  sublime  ridges  towering  up  on 
either  side  to  a height  of  5,000  feet,  and  running  in 
straight  parallels  into  boundless  space,  was  in  itself  a 
source  of  infinite  admiration.  But  to  this  estimate  of 
its  interest  and  sublimity  I may  add  the  fact  that  the 
valley  area  teemed  with  villages,  and  was  alive  with  a 
population  which  had  laid  out  and  conjoined  every  avail- 
able acre  into  one  vast  garden  of  fertility  and  wealth.” 

Half-way  between  Manwyne  and  Sanda,  the  Chinese 
town  of  Karahokha  was  reached.  This  place  was  curi- 
ous because  it  was  an  entirely  Chinese  centre  of  trade 
situated  in  a district  otherwise  peopled  only  by  Shans. 
The  broad  road  running  through  the  town  was  not 
only  flanked  by  Chinese  shops,  but  on  market-days  was 
crammed  with  temporary  booths  and  sheds  in  which 
merchandise  was  displayed  for  sale.  Sanda  itself  was 
found  to  be  a poor  and  insignificant  place,  containing 


282 


FURTHER  INDIA 


about  800  houses,  and  it  had  not  recovered  from  the 
Muhammadan  invasion  of  five  years  earlier,  when,  after 
it  had  been  scientifically  looted  by  the  “ Pan-thai  ” sol- 
diers, it  was  handed  over  to  their  Kakhyen  allies.  The 
Shan  king  of  the  place,  however,  received  the  travellers 
very  kindly,  and  insisted  upon  Sladen  adopting  his 
grandson,  certain  astrologers  having  declared  that  the 
youth  would  never  prosper  unless  the  Englishman  would 
consent  to  undertake  this  purely  formal  charge.  Sladen 
won  his  heart  by  his  ready  acceptance  of  this  commis- 
sion, and  the  travellers  quitted  Sanda  on  the  16th  May, 
leaving  staunch  friends  behind  them. 

From  Sanda  the  way  led  through  rice-fields  for  a 
couple  of  miles  to  the  foot  of  a red  spur,  whence  a 
descent  was  again  made  into  the  Ta-ping  valley.  A road 
leading  up  the  centre  of  the  valley  brought  the  party 
to  Mynela,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  a town  of  some 
eight  or  ten  thousand  inhabitants  and  some  1,200  houses. 
Like  Sanda  it  was  built  upon  rising  ground  and  was 
surrounded  by  a loop-holed  brick  wall. 

“ The  temples  of  Mynela  are  costly  stone  buildings, 
and  the  interior  decorations  have  been  carried  out  with 
a lavish  expenditure  of  gold-leaf  and  labour  which  pro- 
claims the  wealth  of  the  people  at  large,  and  is  evidence 
also  of  their  artistic  attainments.” 

Like  their  brethren  in  Laos  and  the  Burmese  Shan  States, 
the  Shans  of  the  Chinese  frontier  were  found  to  be 
greatly  given  to  the  erection  of  Buddhistical  temples ; 
but  Sladen  noted  how  deeply  they  had  taken  the  impress 
of  the  Chinese  civilisation,  and  how  unorthodox  was 


EXPLORATION  IN  BURMA  283 


their  religion  contrasting  with  the  pure  Buddhism  of 
Burma.  One  curious  element  in  the  population  was  the 
Buddhist  nuns,  all  of  whom  were  of  a peripatetic  habit, 
many  having  wandered  in  pious  pilgrimage  as  far  afield 
as  Rangoon.  They  had  brought  back  with  them  the 
most  favourable  accounts  of  that  portion  of  Burma  which 
had  already  fallen  under  the  rule  of  Great  Britain,  spoke 
“ in  rapturous  and  familiar  strains  of  Colonel  Phayre,” 
and  had  been  instrumental  in  teaching  their  countrymen 
to  regard  Englishmen  with  feelings  of  friendship. 

While  at  Mynela,  Sladen  collected  a considerable 
amount  of  information  relative  to  the  Chinese  Shan 
States,  the  population  of  which  he  estimated  at  not  less 
than  250,000  souls.  He  also  had  an  interesting  interview 
with  the  dowager-regent  of  the  place  and  with  her  heir, 
by  whom  he  was  kindly  received,  before  leaving  for  Mau- 
phu  on  May  23rd.  This  latter  place,  it  will  be  recalled, 
was  the  stronghold  of  the  robber  chieftain,  Lis-hi-ta-hi, 
whom  the  Governor  of  Mo-mein  had  routed  a few  weeks 
earlier. 

“ Mauphoo  itself,”  writes  Sladen,  “ is  insignificant  both 
as  a town  and  fortification,  but  its  position  had  been 
well  chosen  as  a safe  and  convenient  place  of  retreat  and 
rendezvous  on  account  of  natural  defences  and  general 
inaccessibility.  The  Panthays  for  some  years  past  had 
either  tolerated  or  submitted  to  the  presence  at  Mauphoo 
of  an  enemy  who  intercepted  their  communication  with 
Burmah  and  disputed  with  them  the  sovereignty  of  the 
northern  Shan  States.  It  is  now  evident  that  this  sub- 
mission originated  in  a fear  of  offending  against  Bur- 


284  FURTHER  INDIA 

man  scruples  by  direct  interference  with  one  who  was 
known  to  be  the  secret  agent  of  the  Burmese  Govern- 
ment. It  was  not  therefore  until  my  letters  had  reached 
Momein,  and  the  Governor  had  been  led  to  believe  that 
we  were  supported  and  countenanced  by  the  Burmese 
Government,  that  the  Governor  undertook  the  work  of 
reducing  Mauphoo  and  of  opening  out  communication 
with  ourselves  at  Ponsee.  He  argued  rightly  that  either 
Mauphoo  must  cease  to  be  a Chinese  garrison,  or  the 
British  expedition  must  fail  in  gaining  access  to  the 
Chinese  frontier.” 

The  Governor  had  invested  the  robber  stronghold  with 
a force  of  5,000  men,  and  finally  took  it  by  assault  after 
a large  part  of  the  garrison,  failing  to  cut  their  way  out, 
had  submitted.  Lis-hi-ta-hi  lost  several  hundred  of  his 
followers  during  these  operations,  and  the  air  was  sick- 
ened by  the  exhalations  from  still  unburied  corpses  at 
the  time  of  Sladen’s  visit. 

From  Mau-phu  the  travellers  pushed  on  to  the  Nan- 
tin  valley.  The  heights  were  guarded  by  bodies  of 
friendly  natives,  and  the  Englishmen,  as  those  who  had 
been  the  indirect  means  of  freeing  the  district  from  the 
tyranny  of  the  Chinese  robber,  were  everywhere  greeted 
with  noisy  acclamations  of  pleasure.  Again  the  country 
traversed  was  magnificent. 

“ How  superbly  quiet  and  picturesque,”  exclaims 
Sladen,  “ is  the  view  which  is  disclosed  during  the  de- 
scent from  the  Mau-phoo  heights ! At  our  feet  lies  the 
Ta-haw,  now  a smooth,  quiet  stream,  flowing  between 
deep  precipitous  banks  of  alternate  rock  and  vegetation, 


EXPLORATION  IN  BURMA  285 


and  spanned  by  a veritable  suspension  bridge,  the  first 
of  a series  which  assures  us  that  we  have  passed  the 
confines  of  the  celestial  empire.  Six  miles  in  advance 
(though  apparently  at  our  feet)  may  be  descried  the 
towns  of  Mynetee  and  Nantin,  the  former  Shan  and  the 
latter  Chinese,  though  at  present  under  the  rule  of  a 
Panthay  Governor.  In  the  distance  the  valley  stretches 
away  into  space,  with  a dark  background  of  lofty  moun- 
tains which  tend  northerly  far  into  Yunan.  The  average 
width  of  the  valley  did  not  exceed  three  miles,  and  the 
well-defined  terraces  or  gradations  of  terraces  at  cor- 
responding heights  on  either  side  were  evidences  of  a 
lacustrine  period  during  which  a gradual  outlet  was 
being  forced  through  the  Mauphoo  gorge.  The  lake 
itself  had  silted  up  and  formed  the  present  rich  alluvial 
expanse  of  plain  and  valley.  There  is  reason  to  believe 
that  the  other  Shan  valleys  we  have  thus  far  visited  owe 
much  of  their  present  formation  to  a lacustrine  origin, 
and  that  their  unusual  fertility  and  elevation  are  due  as 
much  to  former  sedimentary  lake  deposits  as  to  a con- 
tinual accession  of  productive  matter  which  is  being  in- 
cessantly superadded  by  periodical  floods,  as  well  as  by 
the  descent  of  debris  from  the  adjoining  slopes  towards 
their  several  valley  centres.” 

Nan-tin  was  reached  at  dusk,  and  shortly  after  the 
travellers  had  taken  up  their  quarters  in  the  half-ruined 
Chinese  temple  assigned  to  them,  a visit  was  paid  to  them 
by  the  Pan-thai  Governor  of  the  place  and  by  his  col- 
league, the  Muhammadan  Kazi.  Next  day  the  visit  was 
repeated,  and  this  time  the  Governor  was  also  accom- 


286 


FURTHER  INDIA 


panied  by  Thong-wet-shein,  a noted  Chinese  robber 
chieftain  who  had  submitted  to  the  Muhammadan  Gov- 
ernment after  the  fall  of  Mau-phu.  This  worthy,  says 
Sladen,  “ evidenced  in  his  outward  exterior  an  impres- 
sive realisation  of  the  living  brigand,”  for  in  a wild 
country  such  as  this,  a man  does  not  rise  even  to  the 
position  of  leader  of  a band  of  outlaws  unless  he  stand 
possessed  of  unusual  qualities  of  mind  and  person. 

From  Nan-tin  Sladen  pushed  on  to  Mo-mein,  which 
is  situated  on  the  lower  slopes  of  a plateau  whose 
highest  point  is  crossed  about  half-way  between  the 
two  places.  The  volcanic  origin  of  this  plateau  and 
of  the  whole  surrounding  region  is  plainly  indicated, 
and  in  one  place  hot  springs  were  found  in  which  the 
temperature  of  the  water  was  a trifle  above  boiling-point. 
The  chief  incident  of  the  march,  however,  was  the  sud- 
den attack  delivered  by  a band  of  Chinese  dakaits  upon 
the  Pan-thai  escort, — an  attack  in  which  one  or  two  of 
the  Muhammadan  officers  lost  their  lives,  while  several 
of  the  leading  baggage-mules  were  carried  off.  Sladen 
and  his  companions  were  far  at  the  rear  at  the  moment 
when  this  ambush  was  revealed,  but  they  succeeded  in 
rallying  and  steadying  their  little  force,  and  reached 
Mo-mein  that  evening  without  further  interruption. 

“ The  approach  to  Momein,”  writes  Sladen,  “ is  very 
grand  and  beautiful.  We  had  been  descending  for  some 
time  the  eastern  side  of  the  high  ridges  which  intersect 
to  some  extent  the  main  valley  of  the  Tahaw.  The  road, 
after  passing  down  a long  series  of  grassy  undulations, 
led  round  the  southern  slope  of  a tumulus-shaped  hill, 


EXPLORATION  IN  BURMA  287 


1,000  feet  in  height,  crowned  on  its  summit  by  a high 
Chinese  tower  pagoda.  It  is  at  this  point  that  the  city 
of  Momein  is  suddenly  brought  into  view  in  a hollow 
basin,  enclosed  on  all  sides  by  hills  of  every  shape  and 
altitude,  which  slope  down  apparently  to  its  very  walls. 
In  reality  they  are  at  some  distance,  and  the  intervening 
valley  spaces  are  either  under  cultivation  or  mark  the 
remains  of  large  Chinese  towns,  now  for  the  most  part 
in  ruins  and  deserted.  Beyond  the  city,  from  our  present 
point  of  view,  the  Tahaw  and  Momein  valleys  have 
formed  a junction,  and  a narrow  plain  extends  for  about 
five  miles  in  a northerly  direction  along  the  banks  of  the 
Tahaw,  until  limited  in  the  distance  by  the  gradual  con- 
vergence of  the  lateral  hill  ranges.  On  the  extreme  north 
the  horizon  was  bounded  by  a dark  rugged  outline  of 
black  mountains,  with  an  apparent  north  and  south  direc- 
tion, which  form,  as  far  as  it  is  allowed  to  deduce  facts 
from  observation  and  inquiry,  a portion  of  the  main  cen- 
tral Himalayan  chain,  which  is  continued  far  south  into 
Burma  and  the  Malay  Peninsula.” 

The  Governor  of  Mo-mein  was  waiting  to  receive  the 
travellers  without  the  walls  of  his  city,  having  come  out 
in  full  state  for  that  purpose.  The  attitude  of  this  Gov- 
ernor, as  indeed  of  all  the  “ Pan-thai  ” authorities  en- 
countered by  Sladen,  presents  an  interesting  contrast  to 
that  of  the  men  of  the  same  clan  who  had  dealings  with 
Gamier  during  his  flying  visit  to  Ta-li-fu.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  the  French  traveller  ascribed  his  failure 
to  obtain  permission  to  proceed  to  the  fact  that  the  Mu- 
hammadans of  Ta-li-fu  must  have  mistaken  him  for  an 


288 


FURTHER  INDIA 


Englishman,  all  Englishmen,  in  Garnier’s  opinion,  being 
necessarily  hateful  to  the  followers  of  the  Prophet.  This 
contention  is  not  sustained  by  the  reception  everywhere 
accorded  to  Sladen  in  the  territory  under  Muhammadan 
jurisdiction.  By  no  stretch  of  imagination  could  the  fol- 
lowing words  have  been  written  of  the  welcome  extended 
to  Garnier,  armed  though  he  was  with  letters  of  recom- 
mendation to  the  rulers  of  Ta-li-fu  from  Lao  Papa,  the 
great  Muhammadan  doctor  and  priest. 

“ The  reception,”  writes  Sladen,  “ was  flattering  and 
courteous  to  excess,  and  as  such  produced  feelings  of 
special  gratification  in  those  who  had  come  as  strangers 
to  an  unknown  government,  and  after  three  months  of 
obstruction  and  annoyance,  suddenly  found  themselves 
amongst  powerful  friends  and  raised  to  the  position  of 
well-favoured  guests.” 

None  the  less  Sladen  was  not  destined  to  visit  Ta-li- 
fu  or  to  travel  farther  into  Yun-nan.  He  had  already 
seen  his  caravan  attacked  by  dakaits,  and  he  became  con- 
vinced, after  a protracted  stay  at  Mo-mein,  that  he  could 
pursue  his  journey  only  at  the  cost  of  causing  great 
trouble  and  danger  to  the  authorities  who  had  treated 
him  with  so  much  hospitality.  The  road  to  Ta-li-fu  was 
infested  by  armed  parties  of  brigands,  and  the  strangers 
could  get  to  that  town  only  by  fighting  their  way  thither. 
To  do  this  would  have  been  contrary  to  his  instructions, 
and  Sladen  therefore  reluctantly  decided  to  abandon  the 
attempt.  On  July  13th  the  party  left  Mo-mein  and 
began  its  march  back  to  Bhamo.  Passing  through  Nan- 
tin,  Sladen  pushed  on  to  Myne-la,  whence  he  purposed 


EXPLORATION  IN  BURMA  289 


travelling  to  Burma  via  the  Hotha  route,  which  lies 
somewhat  farther  to  the  south  than  that  previously  trav- 
ersed by  way  of  Sanda.  After  long  conferences  with 
the  Shans,  Sladen  was  forced  to  abandon  a portion  of  his 
project,  and  had  to  follow  the  old  route  as  far  as  Man- 
wyne.  Leaving  this  place  on  August  ioth,  he  crossed 
into  the  Hotha  valley,  visited  that  town,  and  thence 
despatched  a Burmese  surveyor  to  examine  the  route  to 
Bhamo  via,  Myne-wan.  Sladen  himself  passed  near  the 
town  of  Latha,  and  thence  followed  the  valley  of  the 
Ta-ping,  journeying  through  the  Kakhyen  hills  to  the 
south  of  that  river,  and  so  to  Bhamo,  whid}  was  reached 
on  September  5th. 

At  Myne-la  Sladen  had  been  joined  by  Mr.  Robert 
Gordon,  an  engineer  who  had  been  sent  to  replace  Will- 
iams, and  this  officer  was  subsequently  able  to  supply 
the  Government  with  some  valuable  surveys  of  the  coun- 
try between  that  place  and  Bhamo,  together  with  detailed 
reports  concerning  the  merits  of  the  several  routes  into 
Yun-nan.  Moreover,  as  engineer  in  charge  of  the  river 
works,  he  added  largely  to  our  knowledge  of  the  Lower 
Irawadi,  and  published  a valuable  report  on  the  river, 
1879-80.  So  late  as  1885  he  was  an  ardent  advocate  of 
the  theory — then  generally  believed,  and  almost  immedi- 
ately afterwards  demonstrated,  to  be  erroneous — that  the 
main  source  of  the  Irawadi  was  to  be  found  in  the 
Sanpo  of  Tibet.  In  1868,  both  this  officer  and  Sladen 
fell  into  the  error  of  supposing  that,  once  the  difficulties 
of  the  Kakhyen  hills  had  been  surmounted  and  Mo-mein 
had  been  reached,  no  serious  obstacles  remained  in  the 
way  of  the  traveller  to  Ta-li-fu.  Their  reports,  there- 


290 


FURTHER  INDIA 


fore,  induced  the  belief  that  an  admirable  route,  whereby 
the  trade  of  Yun-nan  might  be  tapped,  had  been  dis- 
covered, and  this  gave  to  the  results  obtained  by  the 
expedition  an  air  of  importance  which  was  not  rightly 
to  be  claimed  for  them. 

On  January  4th,  1868,  Mr.  T.  T.  Cooper  left  Han- 
Kau  and  made  his  way  to  Batang,  on  the  south-eastern 
borders  of  Tibet.  From  this  point  he  travelled  south, 
chiefly  following  the  valley  of  the  Lan-tsang,  as  the 
waters  of  the  Mekong  are  here  called.  At  Tse-ku,  just 
within  the  Yun-nan  boundary,  he  found  French  Roman 
Catholic  missionaries  established  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
river,  and  he  calculated  that  this  place  was  distant  only 
some  80  miles  from  the  upper  portion  of  the  Irawadi  in 
the  Khanti  country  which  had  been  visited  from  Assam 
by  Wilcox,  though  this  estimate  was  not  sufficiently  lib- 
eral. Proceeding  south  he  was  stopped  before  he  could 
reach  Ta-li-fu,  and  was  forced  to  retrace  his  steps. 

In  October,  1869,  however,  he  returned  to  the  charge, 
this  time  making  Assam  his  starting-point.  Leaving 
Sadiya  he  passed  up  the  line  of  the  Lohit,  that  is,  the 
Brahmaputra,  and  reached  Prun,  a village  20  miles  from 
Rima,  the  first  Tibetan  post.  But  again  he  was  turned 
back. 

In  1874  the  Muhammadan,  or  as  Sladen  erroneously 
called  it  the  “ Panthai,”  rebellion,  of  which  in  these  pages 
such  frequent  mention  has  been  made,  came  to  an  end, 
Ta-li-fu  falling  at  last  into  the  hands  of  the  Chinese 
Government.  In  January  of  the  following  year  Lord 
Salisbury  appointed  a British  Mission,  under  Colonel 
Browne,  to  cross  China  from  Bhamo  to  Shanghai,  and 


EXPLORATION  IN  BURMA  291 


in  order  to  obviate  difficulties  Mr.  Augustus  Raymond 
Margary,  of  the  Consular  Service  in  China,  was  in- 
structed to  proceed  overland  to  Bhamo,  there  to  join  the 
mission  after  having  prepared  the  way  for  its  advent. 
This  young  Englishman  is  the  type  of  those  of  his  race 
who  have  built  up  our  world-wide  empire,  and  the  haz- 
ardous duty  assigned  to  him  filled  him  with  pride  and 
with  delight. 

“ Is  it  not  a splendid  mission  ? ” he  writes  in  a letter 
addressed  to  the  lady  whom  he  hoped  to  make  his  wife. 
“ What  wonderful  things  I shall  see ! I shall  hope  to 
have  grand  sport  in  the  forests  and  mountains  which 
teem  with  wild  life.  It  is  impossible  to  say  when  you 
may  hear  from  me.  . . . All  sorts  of  rumours  may 

arise  as  to  my  fate.  Let  me  beg  of  you  not  to  believe 
one ; rest  assured  I will  make  my  way  there  and  back, 
by  God’s  help,  as  safe  as  a trivit.” 

It  is  a fine  thing  truly  to  be  possessed  of  youth,  and 
health  and  high  spirits,  to  be  vouchsafed  that  golden 
gift — an  opportunity — and  to  be  endowed  above  your 
fellows  with  a special  mission  that  promises  so  great 
a measure  of  adventure  and  of  romance.  So  doubtless 
thought  young  Margary  when,  on  August  23rd,  1874,  he 
set  out  from  Shanghai  to  traverse  China.  He  ascended 
the  Yang-tse  to  Han-Kau,  and  thence,  to  use  his  own 
words,  “ plunged  into  the  Dark  for  six  months.”  Trav- 
elling over  a route  similar  to  that  followed  by  Gamier 
six  years  earlier,  he  reached  Ta-li-fu,  and  thence  passed 
on  to  Bhamo  via,  Mo-mein  and  the  Kakhyen  hills,  arriv- 
ing at  the  Burmese  city  on  January  17th,  1875.  He 


292  FURTHER  INDIA 

was  thus  the  first  to  traverse  the  country  between  Ta- 
li-fu,  which  had  been  visited  by  Gamier,  and  Mo-mein, 
which  as  we  have  seen  was  the  point  to  which  Sladen’s 
expedition  had  attained.  He  was,  moreover,  the  first 
white  man  to  make  his  way  into  Burma  from  Shanghai, 
and  when  he  joined  Colonel  Browne  at  Bhamo  his  ar- 
rival caused  a tremendous  sensation,  not  only  among 
the  Europeans,  but  also  among  the  natives  in  that  place. 

Early  in  February  Browne’s  mission  left  Bhamo,  and 
began  its  march  to  Shanghai,  but  on  the  fringe  of  the 
Kakhyen  country  rumours  of  trouble  reached  the  trav- 
ellers, the  hill-tribes,  instigated  it  was  reported  by  the 
mandarins  of  Serai  and  Manwyne,  being  said  to  be  pre- 
paring to  resist  the  advance  of  the  Europeans.  Mar- 
gary,  who  had  come  single-handed  through  China,  and 
had  made  friends  with  the  authorities,  laughed  at  these 
rumours,  and  leaving  the  rest  of  the  mission,  pushed 
on  ahead  to  make  inquiries  and  to  reassure  the  natives. 
He  crossed  the  frontier  on  February  19th,  taking  no 
escort  with  him,  and  on  the  following  day  letters  from 
him  reported  his  safe  arrival  at  Serai.  On  February 
2 1st  Browne  moved  forward  and  reached  Serai,  and 
next  day  the  mission-camp  was  surrounded  by  hostile 
natives.  The  same  day  news  was  received  from  Man- 
wyne that  poor  young  Margary  had  been  murdered  on 
February  22nd.  After  a hard  day’s  fighting,  Browne 
was  able  in  the  evening  to  draw  off  his  people,  and  to 
recross  the  frontier  into  Burmese  territory  with  all  his 
baggage.  The  mission  had  failed  on  the  very  threshold 
of  its  enterprise,  and  one  more  youngster  of  high  prom- 
ise had  fallen,  as  so  many  Englishmen  have  fallen,  in 


Augustus  R.  Margary 

From  his  “Journey  from  Shanghai  to  Bhamo.”  By  permission  of 
Macmillan  & Co. 


EXPLORATION  IN  BURMA  293 


the  foremost  skirmishing-line  of  the  Empire.  The  man 
who  had  crossed  China  from  the  sea  to  Burma  without 
any  armed  escort,  and  had  thus  accomplished  something 
the  memory  of  which  will  never  be  forgotten,  was  not 
quite  nine  and  twenty  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  prema- 
ture death. 

On  November  5th,  1875,  a mission  under  the  command 
of  the  Hon.  T.  Grosvenor  left  Han-Kau  for  the  pur- 
pose of  inquiring  into  the  circumstances  of  poor  young 
Margary’s  assassination.  The  mission  reached  Yun- 
nan-fu  on  March  6th,  1876,  and  Ta-li-fu  on  April  nth, 
and  thence  passed  on  to  Mo-mein,  thus  again  traversing 
the  country  between  the  regions  explored  by  Gamier 
and  those  visited  by  Sladen  in  1868.  Mr.  Colborne 
Baber,  of  the  British  Consular  Service  in  China,  who 
was  attached  to  the  mission,  made  a careful  examination 
of  the  country  traversed  by  the  Grosvenor  mission,  and 
in  February,  1877,  forwarded  from  Han-Kau  copies  of 
the  surveys  which  he  had  made.  Of  these  the  most  im- 
portant was  the  survey  of  the  route  from  Ta-li-fu  to 
Teng-yue,  as  Mo-mein  is  called  by  the  Chinese,  for  Mar- 
gary’s death  had  robbed  the  Government  of  the  detailed 
information  concerning  this  area  which  he  had  collected. 
Bhamo  was  placed  by  Baber’s  survey  in  topographical 
communication  with  Shanghai  and  Saigon,  for  it  was 
now  linked  to  the  areas  surveyed  by  Gamier.  In  other 
respects,  however,  the  results  of  Baber’s  investigations 
were  not  so  satisfactory  to  Englishmen.  Sladen,  as  we 
have  noted,  had  imagined  that  the  difficulties  of  the 
route  from  Burma  into  Yun-nan  ended  at  Mo-mein,  the 
point  reached  by  his  expedition.  Baber  now  corrected 


294  FURTHER  INDIA 

this  misapprehension,  and  added  that  it  was  precisely 
at  Mo-mein  that  the  greatest  difficulties  began. 

“ The  valleys,  or  rather  abysses,  of  the  Salwin  and 
Mekong,”  he  wrote,  “ must  long  remain  insuperable  dif- 
ficulties, not  to  mention  rpany  other  obstacles.” 

And  again  he  writes, 

“ Loath  as  most  Englishmen  are  to  admit  it,  the  sim- 
ple and  evident  approach  to  Eastern  Yun-nan  is  from 
the  Gulf  of  Tongking.  But  it  by  no  means  follows 
that  the  same  holds  true  of  the  western  part  of  the 
province.  The  object  should  be  to  attain  some  town  of 
importance  south  of  Yung-chang  and  Ta-li-fu,  such  as 
Shun-ning,  from  which  both  these  cities  could  be  reached 
by  ascending  the  valleys  instead  of  crossing  all  the 
mountain  ranges,  as  must  be  done  if  the  T’eng-yueh 
(Mo-mein)  route  is  selected.” 

Baber,  moreover,  threw  much  light  upon  the  route  de- 
scribed by  Marco  Polo  in  the  fifth  chapter  of  his  book, 
and  established  the  identity  of  Yachi  and  Carajan  with 
the  modern  Yun-nan-fu  and  Ta-li-fu.  His  careful  and 
accurate  investigations  added  largely  to  the  stock  of  in- 
formation at  that  time  in  the  possession  of  Europeans 
concerning  western  China, — a region  which  only  indi- 
rectly comes  within  the  scope  of  our  inquiry, — and  in 
May,  1883,  his  labours  were  rewarded  by  the  bestowal 
on  him  of  the  Patron’s  Medal  of  the  Royal  Geographical 
Society. 

In  August,  1877,  Mr.  McCarthy,  of  the  China  Inland 
Mission,  reached  Bhamo,  having  come  across  Yun-nan 
via  Yun-nan-fu  and  Ta-li-fu.  Eight  months  later  the 
journey  from  Ta-li-fu  to  Bhamo  was  also  performed  by 


From  “The  River  of  Golden  Sand.”  By  permission  of 
Mr.  John  Murray 


Edward  Colborne  Baber 


Captain  William  Gill,  R.  E. 


EXPLORATION  IN  BURMA  295 


Captain  William  John  Gill,  who  in  1877-78  made  some 
important  explorations  in  China,  the  most  interesting  of 
which  were  undertaken  in  the  valley  of  the  “ River  of 
Golden  Sand,”  the  Kin-sha-kiang,  which  is  the  name 
borne  by  the  upper  waters  of  the  Yang-tse.  Gill  ex- 
plored this  valley  to  the  south-eastern  confines  of  Tibet, 
and  traversed  the  country  between  Batang  and  Ta-li-fu. 
From  the  latter  place  he  made  his  way  to  Bhamo,  and 
later  recorded  his  experiences  in  an  interesting  book  of 
travel,  a subsequent  edition  of  which  had  the  good  for- 
tune to  be  edited  by  Colonel  Henry  Yule.  In  Septem- 
ber, 1877,  the  journey  from  Ta-li-fu  to  Bhamo  had  been 
made  by  another  missionary,  Mr.  Cameron,  and  on 
February  13th,  1880,  Count  Bela  Szechenyi,  a young 
Austrian  noble,  after  traversing  China  and  trying  vainly 
to  force  an  entrance  into  Tibet,  arrived  at  Bhamo  from 
Ta-li-fu.  In  1882  Mr.  Archibald  Colquhoun,  accom- 
panied by  Mr.  Charles  Wahab,  ascended  the  West  River 
of  Canton  to  Pe-se,  and  travelled  through  southern  Yun- 
nan to  the  frontier  town  of  Sze-mao — so  long  known  to 
our  officers  in  Burma  under  the  name  of  Esmok — the 
once  suggested  terminus  of  the  Burma-Chinese  railway 
which  Sprey  had  so  persistently  and  vainly  advocated  in 
the  sixties.  Here  Mr.  Colquhoun  was  stopped,  and  was 
forced  to  turn  north,  eventually  reaching  Bhamo  via  the 
Ta-li-fu  route.  His  journey  was  interesting  and  impor- 
tant since  it  covered  an  area  which  had  never  previously 
been  scientifically  explored  and  surveyed.  Moreover,  it 
was  made  by  one  who  could  use  his  pen  as  well  as  his 
limbs,  and  the  result  was  a delightful  book,  “ Across 
Chryse,”  published  in  1883.  A study  of  this  journey, 


1y6 


FURTHER  INDIA 


however,  does  not  come  within  the  scope  of  the  present 
work. 

By  this  time  the  relations  between  the  British  and  the 
Burmese  Governments  had  become  greatly  strained,  the 
position  having  become  critical  after  the  accession  of 
Thibaw,  wTho  came  to  the  throne  in  1878,  and  celebrated 
the  occasion  by  having  a number  of  his  relatives  mur- 
dered in  a singularly  cold-blooded  manner.  In  1879  our 
Resident  had  been  withdrawn  from  Mandalay,  his  posi- 
tion having  become  untenable  since  he  was  the  impotent 
witness  of  horrors  which  he  had  no  power  to  prevent.  A 
large  amount  of  British  capital,  however,  had  been  in- 
vested in  Burma,  the  Irawadi  Flotilla  Company  possess- 
ing all  the  shipping  on  the  great  river,  and  being  engaged 
on  a large  scale  in  the  export  of  teak.  France,  too,  had 
realised  the  importance  of  Burma,  and  Thibaw’s  per- 
sistent coquetting  with  foreign  intriguers  caused  acute 
anxiety  to  the  Government  of  India.  At  last  in  1885  the 
King  inflicte'd  a huge  fine  upon  the  Flotilla  Company,  and 
threatened  to  confiscate  its  property  unless  his  demands 
wrere  immediately  satisfied.  This  led  to  war.  The  Flotilla 
Company’s  fleet  was  chartered,  and  in  November  a force 
of  9,000  men  was  moved  up  the  Irawadi.  After  a stub- 
born fight  at  Minhla  on  November  17th,  the  flotilla  made 
its  way  to  the  vicinity  of  Ava,  and  as  it  drew  near  to  the 
ancient  capital  it  was  met,  on  November  26th,  with  an 
offer  of  surrender.  Thibaw  wTas  deposed ; Burma  was 
annexed;  and  the  first  stage  of  the  last  Burmese  War 
had  ended  ere  it  had  well  begun. 

Many  thousands  of  Burman  soldiers,  however,  had 
not  come  into  collision  with  our  troops,  and  these  pres- 


EXPLORATION  IN  BURMA  297 


ently  formed  themselves  into  bands  of  dakaits  by  whom 
a guerilla  warfare  was  carried  on  for  a protracted  period. 
The  second  phase  of  the  struggle  upon  which  the  British 
army  now  entered  has  rightly  been  described  as  “ a 
subaltern’s  war.”  That  is  to  say,  the  force  was  split 
up  into  innumerable  tiny  detachments,  each  of  which 
had  for  its  duty  the  tranquillisation  of  a particular  area. 
By  this  means  upper  Burma  was  overrun  by  white  men 
in  a fashion  which  defies  detailed  description.  After 
the  conclusion  of  the  war  followed  the  work  of  admin- 
istration and  survey,  and  to-day  it  is  hardly  too  much 
to  say  that  almost  every  cranny  of  the  Burmese  empire, 
from  which  of  old  Europeans  were  so  rigidly  excluded, 
has  been  visited  and  explored  by  British  officers.  Where 
so  many  explorers,  acting  for  the  most  part  in  official 
capacities,  have  done  such  excellent  work,  it  is  some- 
what invidious  to  refer  to  individuals,  but  mention  may 
perhaps  be  made  of  one  or  two  expeditions  from  the 
side  of  India  which  made  important  contributions  towards 
the  solution  of  the  problem  of  the  sources  of  the  Irawadi. 
Two  native  explorers  were  despatched  by  the  Indian 
Government  in  1879  to  locate  the  sources  of  the  river, 
and  though  they  did  not  succeed  in  accomplishing  this 
task,  they  brought  back  much  interesting  information 
derived  from  the  natives  with  whom  they  came  into 
contact.  In  1884-85  Colonel  R.  G.  Woodthorpe  and 
Major  C.  R.  Macgregor  conducted  an  expedition  from 
Sadiya,  on  the  upper  waters  of  the  Brahmaputra,  to  the 
Kampti  Shan  country  on  the  western  branch  of  the  Ira- 
wadi— the  Nam-kiu — returning  over  the  Pathoi  range. 
Just  above  the  point  where  it  is  joined  by  the  Nam-lung 


298 


FURTHER  INDIA 


(270  15'  30"  N.,  970  38'  30"  E.)  they  found  the  Nam- 
kiu  to  be  only  about  85  yards  broad  and  nowhere  more 
than  5 feet  deep.  Its  source  was  stated  to  lie  among 
hills  immediately  to  the  north.  In  1885-86  Mr.  J.  F. 
Needham  followed  the  Brahmaputra  up  to  Rima,  and 
disposed  of  the  theory  that  the  Sampo  River  of  Tibet 
was  the  upper  Irawadi,  while  seven  years  later,  in  the 
season  of  1892-93,  Mr.  Errol  Gray,  a tea-planter  of 
Assam,  in  attempting  to  make  his  way  from  that  prov- 
ince to  Western  China,  penetrated  farther  east  than  any 
previous  traveller  who  had  explored  upper  Burma  from 
the  west,  and  though  unable  to  complete  his  programme, 
crossed  the  Nam-kiu  and  reached  the  valley  of  the 
Tisang,  a tributary  of  the  Irawadi  ranking  in  importance 
with  the  Nam-kiu  branch  of  the  river.  An  account  of 
the  contribution  made  by  Prince  Henri  of  Orleans  to 
our  knowledge  of  the  headwaters  of  the  Irawadi  must 
be  reserved  for  the  next  chapter.  Finally,  in  connection 
with  the  general  exploration  of  upper  Burma,  special 
mention  must  be  made  of  the  work  of  Mr.  J.  G.  (now 
Sir  James)  Scott,  who,  both  as  an  administrator  and 
as  a member  of  the  various  boundary  commissions  that 
have  been  engaged  in  settling  the  frontiers,  has  added 
largely  to  the  sum  of  our  information  about  the  country, 
with  which  he  has,  perhaps,  a more  intimate  acquaintance 
than  any  living  European.  Of  the  results  obtained  by 
all  these  incessant  efforts  to  open  up  Burma  and  the 
Shan  States  under  Burmese  rule,  more  will  have  to  be 
said  in  the  concluding  chapter  of  the  book. 


Lao  Town,  Muang-Nan 


CHAPTER  XII 


THE  FURTHER  EXPLORATION  OF  SIAM',  FRENCH  INDO- 
CHINA, AND  THE  MALAY  PENINSULA 

THE  comparatively  meagre  knowledge  possessed 
by  Europeans  concerning  the  geography  of 
Siam  up  to  the  middle  of  the  last  century  is 
well  exemplified  by  a paper  on  the  subject  which  was 
read  before  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  in  London 
on  December  loth,  1855,  by  Mr.,  afterwards  Sir,  Harry 
Parkes,  who  at  that  time  occupied  the  position  of  British 
Consul  at  Bangkok.  The  only  surveys  of  the  country 
then  available,  he  declared,  were  those  which  had  been 
made  in  the  course  of  their  professional  journeys  by  Dr. 
S.  R.  House  and  his  fellows  of  the  American  Missions. 
These  journeys  had  always  been  made  by  boat,  and  the 
surveys  were  taken  by  the  somewhat  primitive  system 
known  as  “ time  and  compass.”  The  map  thus  com- 
piled, however,  contained,  Sir  Harry  Parkes  wrote,  “ all 
the  authentic  geographical  information  we  possess  on 
that  most  important  part  of  the  Siamese  dominions,  the 
great  valley  of  the  Menam.”  Yet  when  we  come  to  ex- 
amine it,  the  area  delineated  is  very  meagre  and  circum- 
scribed. It  is  covered  by  barely  as  much  as  two  degrees 
of  latitude,  and  embraces  nothing  beyond  the  lower 
valleys  of  the  Menam  and  Meklong  Rivers.  Bishop 
Pallegoix,  whose  important  work  on  Siam  appeared  in 
1852,  had  penetrated  somewhat  farther  into  the  interior, 

299 


3°° 


FURTHER  INDIA 


though  Sir  Harry  Parkes  believed  that  his  explorations 
only  extended  on  the  Menam  as  far  as  Pakprian,  a dis- 
tance of  30  miles  from  the  point  at  which  the  Ameri- 
can survey  terminated,  on  the  Meklong  for  a distance 
of  about  120  miles  from  its  mouth,  and  on  the  Tachin 
as  far  as  Supanburi,  a matter  of  180  miles  or  so  from 
its  outfall.  For  the  rest,  the  latitude  of  Ayuthia,  the 
ancient  capital  of  Siam,  and  of  Lopburi,  a town  some- 
what farther  up  the  valley  of  the  Menam,  had  been  fixed 
by  Captain  Davis,  the  commander  of  a merchantman, 
who  had  accompanied  the  King  to  these  places  a year 
or  two  before  the  time  of  which  Parkes  was  speaking. 

Topographical  and  statistical  information  on  the  sub- 
ject of  Siam,  albeit  of  a character  of  only  approximate 
accuracy,  was  not,  however,  lacking.  Merchants  and 
missionaries  were  now  residing  in  Siam  in  fair  numbers, 
and  in  1852  Frederick  Arthur  Neale,  an  Englishman 
who  had  spent  many  years  in  Siam,  published  an  account 
of  the  country.  His  personal  knowledge  of  it  does  not 
appear  to  have  extended  much  beyond  a few  trade- 
centres,  and  in  the  same  year  Bishop  Pallegoix’s  far 
more  important  work  made  its  appearance.  The  Roman 
Catholic  missionaries  in  south-eastern  Asia  have  made 
good  their  claim  to  be  regarded  as  among  the  most  ad- 
venturesome of  their  kind,  and  Pallegoix,  from  his  posi- 
tion as  head  of  their  organisation  in  Siam  and  from  his 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  natives  and  of  their  language, 
had  been  able  to  collect  a remarkable  amount  of  reliable 
information  concerning  Siam  and  its  inhabitants.  His 
book,  therefore,  represented  by  far  the  most  important 
contribution  to  European  knowledge  of  Siam  that  had 


FURTHER  EXPLORATIONS  301 


then  been  made.  It  is,  on  the  whole,  wonderfully  accu- 
rate, and  even  to-day  it  ranks  as  a standard  work  upon 
the  Siam  of  half  a century  ago.  He  knew,  chiefly  through 
native  reports,  the  names  and  relative  positions  of  all 
the  provinces  of  Siam ; he  described  each  of  these  with 
a fair  amount  of  detail,  from  Chieng  Mai  on  the  Me- 
ping,  and  Luang  Prabang  on  the  Mekong,  to  the  Malay 
States  of  the  Peninsula;  and  his  estimates  of  the  total 
population  of  the  country,  6,000,000  souls,  and  its  divi- 
sion into  races,  were  fairly  correct  so  far  as  can  now  be 
judged.  Of  the  Mekong  he  possessed  no  personal  know- 
ledge, and  he  merely  repeated  information  supplied  to 
him  by  natives,  but  he  had  obtained  a fair  idea  of  its 
size  and  of  the  direction  in  which  it  flows  from  Luang 
Prabang  through  Laos. 

In  1855  Sir  John  Bowring  was  sent  to  Bangkok  on 
a special  mission,  and  in  his  published  account  of  his 
visit  a considerable  amount  of  information  is  given  con- 
cerning the  past  history  of  Siam  and  Siamese  relations 
with  the  West.  Bowring,  however,  had  no  opportunity 
of  materially  adding  to  the  facts  collected  by  his  prede- 
cessors. 

In  1856  Mr.  D.  O.  King  returned  to  Bangkok  after 
nearly  a year  spent  in  Eastern  Siam  and  in  Kambodia. 
He  had  ascended  the  Bang  Pa  Kong  from  Bangkok  to 
Pachim  and  Muong  Kabin,  and  thence  had  made  his 
way  over  a “ military  road,”  which  had  been  constructed 
five  and  twenty  years  earlier,  to  the  Tasawai  River.  He 
had  spent  some  time  at  Batambang,  and  thence  had  paid 
visits  to  Chantabun  and  to  the  gold  mines  situated  be- 
tween Batambang  and  the  Menam  valley.  Leaving 


3°2 


FURTHER  INDIA 


Batambang  he  had  passed  completely  round  the  shores 
of  the  great  lake  of  Tonle  Sap,  visiting  Siam-reap  and 
Angkor  (which  he  spelled  “ Nakon  ”),  subsequently  de- 
scending the  branch  of  the  lake  to  Udong  and  Pnom 
Penh.  Thence  he  eventually  passed  through  Cochin- 
China  to  the  sea.  He  made  no  surveys,  and  his  account 
of  his  journey,  written  in  a style  which  has  nothing  to 
recommend  it  to  the  reader,  is  curiously  barren  of  inter- 
est. In  1859  the  Angkor  ruins  were  visited  and  described 
by  Dr.  James  Campbell,  a medical  officer  of  the  Royal 
Navy. 

In  the  previous  year,  Henri  Mouhot,  the  story  of  whose 
wanderings  and  death  near  Luang  Prabang  has  been 
told  in  an  earlier  chapter,  landed  in  Siam,  and  between 
that  time  and  1861  explored  the  lower  Menam  valley, 
the  greater  part  of  Chantabun  and  Batambang,  the  lake 
of  Tonle-Sap  and  its  vicinity,  the  ruins  of  Angkor,  much 
of  the  hill  country  of  Kambodia  inhabited  by  primitive 
tribes,  and  finally  the  land-route  between  Korat  and 
Luang  Prabang.  Mouhot,  as  we  have  seen,  did  not  live 
to  edit  his  own  notes,  and  his  latitudes  were  inaccurate, 
his  instruments  having  suffered  in  the  course  of  the 
rough  overland  journey  from  the  Menam  to  the  Mekong. 
He  was  thus  robbed  of  the  best  fruits  of  the  labours 
which  cost  him  his  life ; but  none  the  less,  to  Henri 
Mouhot  belongs  the  distinction  of  being,  so  far  as  is 
known,  the  first  white  man  to  traverse  the  country  lying 
between  Korat  and  Luang  Prabang,  and  his  delightful 
book,  to  which  so  melancholy  an  interest  attaches,  threw 
the  first  light  upon  what  had  hitherto  been  one  of  the 
dark  places  of  the  earth. 


Bangkok 


FURTHER  EXPLORATIONS  303 


Nearly  twenty  years  before  Mouhot’s  time,  however, 
a similar  service  had  been  rendered  to  the  upper  dis- 
tricts of  western  Siam  by  Richardson,  who,  in  addition 
to  playing  the  part  already  described  in  the  history  of 
Burmese  explorations,  had  made  his  way  overland  from 
Maulmain  to  Bangkok.  He  was  intrusted,  as  usual, 
with  a commercial  mission,  and  he  left  Maulmain  by 
boat  in  December,  1838.  At  the  end  of  a few  days  he 
exchanged  his  boats  for  elephants,  and  followed  the 
Zimi  River  up  into  the  hills.  The  extension  of  these 
hills  towards  the  south,  it  may  be  noted,  forms  the 
range  which  is,  as  it  were,  the  backbone  of  the  Malay 
Peninsula.  The  road  was  difficult,  the  country  sparsely 
peopled  by  rude  tribes,  and  rain  fell  incessantly,  but  he 
wormed  his  way  through  the  highlands  with  his  accus- 
tomed doggedness,  and  on  January  14th,  1839,  found 
himself  upon  the  eastern  slope  within  a journey  of  “ five 
or  six  days  of  Tavoi,  as  the  Kareens  travel.”  From  this 
point  he  descended  into  the  valley  of  the  Meklong,  reach- 
ing Kanaburi  on  the  25th  January,  and  descending  the 
river  from  that  place,  cut  across  to  the  Menam,  which 
he  reached  some  distance  below  Bangkok.  In  the  course 
of  his  journey  he  obtained  a good  general  idea  of  the 
mountain  system  between  Tenasserim  and  Siam,  added 
to  the  information  then  possessed  on  the  subject  of  the 
Meklong  and  its  tributaries,  but  otherwise  achieved  no 
very  important  results ; for  his  commercial  mission  led 
to  nothing.  The  mountains  with  their  uncivilised  in- 
habitants presented  a serious  barrier  to  trade  between 
Siam  and  Tenasserim. 

In  1859  Sir  Robert  Schomburgk,  F.R.S.,  during  his 


3°  4 


FURTHER  INDIA 


tenure  of  office  as  British  Consul  at  Bangkok,  undertook 
a long  and  arduous  journey,  of  which,  however,  he  has 
left  us  only  a meagre  record.  Starting  from  Bangkok 
on  December  12th,  he  reached  Raheng,  the  most  southerly 
of  the  Laos  cities  on  the  Me-ping,  the  great  western 
branch  of  the  Menam,  on  January  9th,  i860.  Here  he 
sent  his  boats  back  to  Bangkok,  and  continued  the  jour- 
ney on  elephants,  reaching  Chieng  Mai  via  Lampun — or 
Labun,  as  Richardson  and  his  fellows  always  called  it — 
on  nth  February.  From  Chieng  Mai  he  made  his  way 
to  Maulmain  by  the  trade  route  which  had  already  been 
explored  more  than  once  by  British  officers  from  the  Bur- 
mese side.  Schomburgk  was  certainly  among  the  earliest, 
if  not  the  very  first,  European  to  reach  the  Gulf  of  Ben- 
gal from  the  Gulf  of  Siam,  via  Chieng  Mai,  since  the 
time  of  the  ill-fated  factor,  Samuel,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  seventeenth  century.  From  Maulmain  Schomburgk 
proceeded  by  steamer  to  Tavoi,  whence  he  crossed  the 
mountain  range  on  elephants,  and  in  eight  days  reached 
the  junction  of  the  Me-nam-noi  with  the  Meklong. 
Descending  the  banks  of  the  latter  stream  as  far  as 
Kanburi,  he  next  struck  across  to  Bangkok,  where  he 
arrived  after  an  absence  of  135  days,  86  of  which  had 
been  occupied  in  actual  travelling.  He  made  no  surveys 
of  the  route  followed,  and  the  information  which  he 
gathered  was  of  a general  and  statistical  rather  than  of 
a geographical  character.  The  same  remark  applies  with 
equal  force  to  other  consular  journeys  made  in  Siam 
during  the  next  twenty  years,  and  unofficial  visitors  to 
the  country,  who  were  either  missionaries  or  traders, 
were  more  concerned  with  their  own  immediate  interests 


FURTHER  EXPLORATIONS  305 


than  with  the  duty  of  adding  to  the  sum  of  geographical 
knowledge.  The  scientific  mapping  and  exploration  of 
Siam  did  not  begin  until  1881,  when  Mr.  James  Mc- 
Carthy, of  whose  work  more  will  be  said  presently, 
entered  the  Siamese  service,  began  a series  of  interest- 
ing journeys,  and  gradually  brought  into  being  an  effi- 
cient State  survey  department. 

In  the  meanwhile  in  other  parts  of  the  Indo-Chinese 
peninsula  European  explorers  had  been  busy.  M.  J. 
Dupuis,  a French  merchant,  had  met  Gamier  at  Han- 
Kau  in  May,  1868,  and  though  he  claimed  originality 
for  his  idea,  there  seems  to  be  little  doubt  that  the  notion 
of  opening  up  a trade-route  between  Yun-nan  and  the 
Gulf  of  Tongking  by  means  of  the  Song-Koi  was  sug- 
gested to  Dupuis  by  the  discoveries  made  by  the  French 
mission.  Be  this  how  it  may,  Dupuis  travelled  in  the 
province  of  Yun-nan  in  1868  and  1869,  but  the  disturbed 
state  of  the  country  consequent  upon  the  Muhammadan 
rebellion,  prevented  him  from  proceeding  beyond  Yun- 
nan-fu.  In  1871,  by  which  time  he  had  become  a con- 
tractor for  the  Chinese  army,  he  left  Yun-nan-fu  on 
February  25th  bound  for  Tongking.  Travelling  over- 
land in  a southerly  direction,  he  struck  the  Song-Koi  at 
Mang-hao,  and  navigated  it  from  that  point  to  the  sea. 
He  was  under  contract  to  bring  a cargo  of  arms  and 
ammunition  up  the  river  into  Yun-nan,  and  this  he  suc- 
ceeded in  doing  in  1872,  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of 
the  authorities  in  Tongking  and  the  difficulties  of  the 
river  route  which  he  had  selected  for  his  operations. 
At  Yun-nan-sen  he  purchased  a cargo  of  tin  and  copper, 
and  undertook  to  bring  back  a return  cargo  of  salt  from 


3o6  FURTHER  INDIA 


Tongking.  On  his  arrival  at  Hanoi,  however,  the  local 
mandarins  declined  absolutely  to  permit  him  to  purchase 
and  carry  salt  to  China,  salt  being  their  own  precious 
monopoly.  Dupuis  appealed  to  the  French  Government 
at  Saigon,  and  our  old  friend  Francis  Gamier  was  sent 
with  a small  force  to  arbitrate  between  the  French  mer- 
chant and  the  mandarins  of  Hanoi. 

Gamier  arrived  at  the  capital  of  Tongking  on  Novem- 
ber 5th,  1873,  and  ten  days  later  issued  a proclamation 
declaring  the  Song-Koi  open  to  general  commerce.  This 
determined,  but  perhaps  over-hasty,  action  led  to  im- 
mediate hostilities,  and  on  November  20th  Gamier  seized 
the  citadel  of  Hanoi  by  assault.  For  one  backed  by  so 
tiny  a force,  Garnier’s  policy  was  audacious  to  the  point 
of  recklessness,  but  for  the  moment  it  succeeded  so  well 
that  in  the  course  of  a few  weeks  he  had  made  himself 
master  of  five  native  strongholds,  and  seemingly  had  the 
whole  of  lower  Tongking  in  his  grip.  The  Annamese, 
who  saw  their  possession  slipping  from  their  grasp,  now 
called  in  the  Black  Flags,  the  lawless  bands  of  marauders 
who  had  effected  a lodging  in  northern  Tongking  dur- 
ing the  prolonged  disturbances  in  Yun-nan.  These  new 
enemies  forthwith  attacked  Hanoi,  and  on  December 
2 1st  Francis  Gamier  was  killed  while  leading  a sortie 
against  them.  Impetuous,  eager,  strenuous,  and  fearless 
to  the  last,  he  fell  far  in  advance  of  his  men,  and  by  his 
death  France  was  robbed  at  a critical  moment  of  one  of 
the  few  of  her  sons  who  have  won  for  themselves  great 
reputations  while  engaged  in  building  up  her  empire 
beyond  the  seas. 

The  man  who  was  next  sent  to  Hanoi  was  of  another 


River  Scene,  Bangkok 


FURTHER  EXPLORATIONS  3° 7 


type.  This  worthy,  M.  Philastre,  lost  no  time  in  issuing 
a proclamation  in  which  he  not  only  repudiated  all  the 
doings  of  Gamier,  but  went  out  of  his  way  to  insult  pub- 
licly the  memory  of  his  great  predecessor.  He  ordered 
the  evacuation  of  Tongking,  and  losing  his  head  at  a 
critical  moment,  mistook  some  harmless  native  trading- 
ships  for  pirates,  fired  upon  and  sunk  them,  and  hanged 
their  captains.  As  for  poor  M.  Dupuis,  his  vessels  were 
sequestrated,  and  the  withdrawal  of  the  French  was  fol- 
lowed by  a massacre  of  their  native  allies.  In  March, 
1874,  a treaty  was  concluded  between  France  and  An- 
nam  whereby  Kui-nhon,  Haiphong,  and  Hanoi  were 
thrown  open  to  commerce  and  French  consuls  were  sta- 
tioned in  these  towns.  The  position  of  these  officers, 
however,  was  the  reverse  of  enviable,  for  their  country 
had  for  the  moment  fallen  into  contempt,  and  they  were 
subjected  to  the  greatest  indignities. 

Dupuis  had  none  the  less  succeeded  in  accomplishing 
something,  for  he  had  explored  the  course  of  the  Song- 
Koi.  Above  Mang-hao  he  found  that  the  stream  passed 
through  long  defiles,  with  almost  perpendicular  moun- 
tains rising  abruptly  from  its  banks,  and  even  he  owned 
that  it  was  doubtful  whether  the  stream  was  navigable 
for  any  save  small  canoes  in  this  portion  of  its  course. 
Below  Mang-hao,  however,  at  which  point  it  is  already 
about  100  yards  across,  he  considered  the  Song-Koi  an 
excellent  waterway,  and  he  placed  the  distance  from 
Mang-hao  to  Hanoi  at  304  miles,  or  414  miles  from 
the  sea  at  the  mouth  of  the  Thai  Binh  branch  of  the 
delta.  That  the  Song-Koi  was  navigable  Dupuis  proved 
past  any  doubt,  since  he  actually  carried  his  cargo  of 


3°8 


FURTHER  INDIA 


warlike  stores  up  river,  and  returned  with  tin  and  cop- 
per; but  his  desire  to  create  a new  trade-route  led  him 
to  underestimate  its  difficulties,  and  above  Tuan-kuan 
it  is  impracticable  except  from  April  to  November.  As 
a trade-route  the  Song-Koi  must  therefore  be  regarded 
as  of  little  value,  and  if  the  commerce  of  southern  China 
is  ever  to  be  brought  to  the  Gulf  of  Tongking  it  must 
be  not  by  water  but  by  railroad. 

A few  years  later  the  French  were  once  more  engaged 
in  active  warfare  in  Tongking,  their  enemies  being  the 
redoubtable  Black  Flags,  who  were  now  in  possession 
of  upper  Tongking  and  had  made  numerous  descents 
into  the  valley  of  the  Mekong.  It  is  at  this  point  that 
explorations  in  Siam  begin  to  join  on  to  the  explora- 
tions of  French  officers  in  the  “ Empire  of  Annam,”  as 
Annam  and  Tongking  are  collectively  named,  and  we 
must  turn  for  the  moment  to  the  journeys  of  Mr.  James 
McCarthy,  which  are  the  first  link  in  the  chain. 

It  was  in  1881  that  Mr.  McCarthy,  who,  it  has  been 
noted,  was  in  the  service  of  the  King  of  Siam,  began  to 
prepare  the  way  for  a map  of  that  country.  His  first 
undertaking  was  an  examination  of  the  route  for  a tele- 
graph line  between  Bangkok  and  Maulmain,  via  Raheng 
and  Tak.  Mr.  McCarthy  fixed  the  position  of  Raheng 
by  a small  series  of  triangles  in  connection  with  the  East- 
ern Frontier  series  of  Surveys  made  by  the  Government 
of  India,  and  ran  a traverse  with  chain  and  compass  from 
Kampangpet  to  Nakon  Sawan,  a distance  of  90  miles, 
but  was  then  compelled  to  return  to  Bangkok  owing  to 
a bad  attack  of  fever.  He  next  employed  himself  in 
making  a large  scale  survey  of  Sampeng,  the  most  thickly 


FURTHER  EXPLORATIONS  309 


populated  quarter  of  Bangkok,  and  made  this  a training- 
ground  for  the  Siamese  youths  whom  he  was  educating  to 
become  his  assistants.  After  this  he  again  ascended  the 
Menam,  and  entering  the  Me-ping  surveyed  and  mapped 
the  country  between  Raheng  and  Chieng  Mai,  in  order 
to  facilitate  the  settlement  of  a dispute  as  to  boundaries ; 
but  fever,  which,  as  he  cheerfully  says,  had  now  become 
his  “ annual  companion,”  once  more  forced  him  to  re- 
turn to  Bangkok.  In  1883  Mr.  McCarthy  made  a tour  in 
the  Malay  Peninsula  in  connection  with  a boundary  dis- 
pute which  had  arisen  between  the  State  of  Perak,  which 
was  under  British  protection,  and  Raman,  a portion  of 
the  ancient  kingdom  of  Petani.  Touching  first  at  Cham- 
pon — which  had  been  visited  a few  months  earlier  by  a 
party  of  French  engineers,  who  desired  to  report  upon 
the  possibility  of  cutting  a ship-canal  through  the  isth- 
mus of  Kra — he  passed  on  to  Senggora,  and  thence  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Petani  River.  The  French  engineers, 
it  should  be  noted,  had  found  a point  at  which  the  highest 
hill  was  only  250  feet  above  sea-level,  which  was  200 
feet  lower  than  the  pass  crossed  by  Richardson  and 
Tremenheere  in  1839.  Passing  up-stream,  McCarthy 
reached  Raman ; Sir  Hugh  Low,  the  British  Resident  of 
Perak,  had  a conference  with  the  Siamese  Commissioner 
sent  to  meet  him ; and  McCarthy  then  made  a survey 
of  the  disputed  territory,  including  the  upper  reaches  of 
the  Perak  River.  He  returned  to  Bangkok  via  Singa- 
pore, which  he  reached  by  steamer. 

In  January,  1884,  he  again  left  Bangkok,  and  after 
ascending  the  Menam  to  Saraburi,  quitted  his  boats  and 
marched  to  Korat  through  the  “ Dong  Phia  Fai,”  or 


310 


FURTHER  INDIA 


Forest  of  the  Lord  of  Fire,  a region  which  is  noto- 
rious as  a terrible  fever-trap.  He  crossed  the  Pi-mun, 
on  the  banks  of  which  is  the  town  of  Ubon,  at  Muong 
Pi-mai,  whence  he  proceeded  to  Kunwapi,  and  after 
traversing  forest  country  emerged  into  the  populous  dis- 
trict in  which  Nong-Kai,  the  new  city  erected  close  to 
the  ruins  of  Vien  Chan,  is  situated.  Here  for  the  first 
time  McCarthy  saw  the  waters  of  the  Mekong,  and  send- 
ing his  assistant,  Mr.  Bush,  up  that  river,  he  himself 
crossed  over  into  the  country  which  had  been  ravaged  by 
the  Haws,  or  Black  Flags.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
the  country  lying  between  Tongking  and  the  Mekong  had 
at  one  time  been  entirely  under  the  control  of  Annam, 
but  later  the  Siamese  laid  claim  to  it,  and  after  they 
had  suffered  defeat,  returned  to  the  charge,  and  by 
transporting  the  entire  population  across  the  river  left 
the  armies  of  Annam  nothing  to  fight  for.  Later,  Siam 
quietly  reoccupied  the  abandoned  territory,  and  it  was 
not  until  France  had  won  ascendency  over  Annam  that 
the  rights  of  that  kingdom  to  the  region  in  question 
were  at  last  enforced,  and  the  Mekong  became  the 
boundary-line  between  French  Indo-China  and  the  Laos 
States  under  Siamese  control.  At  the  time  of  McCar- 
thy’s visit,  this  beautiful  country  was  practically  deserted, 
the  troubles  caused  by  the  Haw  being  in  full  swing;  but 
crossing  the  Nam  Tang,  he  ascended  into  a plateau, 
some  60  square  miles  in  extent,  at  an  elevation  of  3,500 
feet  above  sea-level.  Thence  he  passed  on  to  Chieng 
Kwang,  or  Muong  Puan,  as  it  is  variously  called,  the 
capital  of  the  district,  and  found  it  under  the  sway  of 
the  Haw,  the  robber  stronghold  of  Tung-Chieng-Kam 


On  the  Mon  River 


FURTHER  EXPLORATIONS  31 1 


being  within  three  days’  march  of  it.  From  Chieng 
Kwang  he  passed  on  in  a south-easterly  direction  to 
Muong  Ngan,  which  lies  at  an  elevation  of  4,800  feet. 
Here  he  found  that  two  French  priests  had  shortly 
before  been  living  in  the  place,  which  had  also  been 
visited  by  M.  Neiss,  a French  traveller  and  political 
agent.  The  latter  had  endeavoured  to  obtain  an  acknow- 
ledgment of  the  sovereignty  of  Annam  from  the  people 
of  Muong  Ngan,  and  after  his  departure  the  Haw  had 
come  down  and  looted  the  little  town.  At  Ta  Tom,  the 
place  next  reached,  the  Nam  Chan,  a tributary  of  the 
Mekong,  was  found  to  be  navigable  for  rafts,  and  on  May 
14th  McCarthy  reached  Pachum,  where  the  Nam  Chan 
falls  into  the  great  river,  and  passed  on  to  Nong  Kai. 
Starting  again  on  May  16th  he  made  his  way  up-stream 
to  Luang  Prabang,  where  he  arrived  on  May  29th. 
Heavy  rains  now  began  to  fall,  and  the  party  suffered 
severely  from  fever,  Mr.  Bush  dying  of  it  on  June  29th, 
adding  yet  one  more  name  to  the  long  roll  of  those  who 
have  given  their  lives  in  the  cause  of  exploration  in 
south-eastern  Asia.  On  July  5th  McCarthy  left  Luang 
Prabang,  and  dropping  down  the  river  to  Pak-Lai,  a 
short  distance  below  which  the  Mekong  turns  abruptly  to 
the  east,  landed  and  marched  across  the  divide  to 
Muong  Wa,  striking  the  Menam  at  Yandu.  The  pass 
from  the  Mekong  to  the  Menam  valleys  is  here  traversed 
by  a very  easy  track.  From  Yandu  McCarthy  returned 
to  Bangkok  down  the  Menam  River. 

In  November  he  again  started  for  the  Mekong  valley, 
ascending  the  Menam  to  Nakon  Sawan,  and  thence  to 
Pak-nam  Po,  at  the  junction  of  the  Me-ping.  Continu- 


312 


FURTHER  INDIA 


ing  the  ascent  of  the  Menam  he  reached  Utaradit,  where 
the  boats  were  finally  quitted,  Mr.  D.  J.  Collins  and  Lieu- 
tenant Rossmussen,  a Dane,  who  had  accompanied  him, 
leaving  him  at  Nan  and  proceeding  to  Luang  Prabang 
via  Muong  Hung.  McCarthy,  on  the  other  hand,  went 
by  Tanun  on  the  Mekong,  visiting  en  route  the  crater 
of  the  volcano  called  the  Pu  Fai  Yai,  or  Great  Fire  Hill, 
which  had  disappointed  the  expectations  of  the  members 
of  the  French  mission  deputed  by  de  Lagree  to  examine 
it.  From  Tanun  McCarthy,  who  had  traversed  from 
Nan  a considerable  stretch  of  unexplored  country,  went 
down  river  to  Luang  Prabang,  halting  on  the  way  to 
see  the  great  cave  opposite  to  the  mouth  of  the  Nam 
Hu,  which  had  also  been  visited  by  Gamier  and  his 
companions.  McCarthy,  Collins  and  Rossmussen  next 
marched  to  join  the  Siamese  army  which  had  been  sent 
into  the  districts  to  the  east  of  the  Mekong  to  subdue 
the  Haw ; they  took  part  in  the  fighting,  and  wit- 
nessed the  beginning  of  the  investment  of  the  robber 
stronghold  at  Tung-Chieng-Kam.  Seeing  that  the  siege 
was  likely  to  be  a protracted  business — in  the  end  the 
Siamese  were  obliged  to  raise  it — McCarthy  presently 
started  on  a tour  in  a northerly  direction.  From  Ban 
Le  he  despatched  Rossmussen  and  the  Siamese  sick  and 
wounded  to  Luang  Prabang,  and  went  on  with  Collins 
to  Muong  Son  and  Muong  Kao,  intending  to  visit  Muong 
Sop  Et,  where  the  Nam  Et  falls  into  the  Song  Ma,  the 
more  southerly  of  the  two  great  rivers  of  Tongking. 
At  Muong  Kao  rafts  were  made,  and  the  river  was 
descended  as  far  as  Sop  Pon,  but  McCarthy’s  native 
companions  contrived  to  prevent  him  from  proceeding 


Auguste  Pavie 


FURTHER  EXPLORATIONS  313 


farther  down  the  Nam  Et,  and  the  explorers  were 
obliged  to  regain  the  valley  of  the  Mekong,  striking  the 
Nam  Hu  at  Muong  Ngoi.  Collins  thence  ascended  the 
Nam  Hu  as  far  as  Muong  Hahin,  within  a measurable 
distance  of  its  source,  and  so  added  the  valley  of  that 
important  tributary  of  the  Mekong  to  the  map  of  the 
region.  McCarthy  meanwhile  marched  over  very  rough 
country  north-north-east  to  Muong  Teng,  which  is  situ- 
ated in  a magnificent  plain  some  60  square  miles  in  ex- 
tent at  the  head  of  the  valley  of  the  Nam  Nua,  a left- 
bank  tributary  of  the  Nam  Hu.  On  May  26th  he  started 
down  this  river  on  rafts,  which  he  later  exchanged  for 
boats,  and  on  June  1st  arrived  at  Luang  Prabang,  where 
he  found  Collins  already  awaiting  him.  The  travellers 
then  returned  to  Bangkok  by  McCarthy’s  former  route. 

The  siege  of  the  Haw  stronghold  of  Tung-Chieng- 
Kam  by  the  forces  of  Siam  had  beeen  raised  in  1885, 
after  the  place  had  been  invested  for  three  whole  months, 
and  in  the  following  year  the  Government  at  Bangkok 
decided  to  make  a final  effort  to  suppress  the  Haw.  By 
this  time  a treaty  had  been  concluded  between  Great 
Britain  and  Siam,  under  the  provisions  of  which  a British 
consul  was  appointed  to  reside  at  Chieng  Mai.  The 
French  followed  suit  by  apppointing  a consul  at  Luang 
Prabang,  though  not  a single  French  subject  lived  in  that 
city  or  the  neighbouring  district.  The  officer  selected  for 
this  latter  post  was  M.  Auguste  Pavie,  whose  name  was 
destined  to  become  more  intimately  associated  with  the 
work  of  exploration  in  the  valley  of  the  Mekong  and  its 
neighbourhood  than  that  of  any  other  living  European. 
Shortly  after  the  time  of  the  Gamier  mission,  M.  Har- 


3H  FURTHER  INDIA 

mand  had  made  some  detailed  explorations  in  Kambodia 
and  in  the  neighbouring  provinces  of  Batambang  and 
Siam-Reap.  These  had  been  supplemented  by  M.  Pavie, 
who  while  in  the  service  of  the  King  of  Siam  had  sur- 
veyed the  telegraph  line  from  Bangkok  to  Batambang. 
He  now  set  off,  towards  the  end  of  1885,  to  take  up  his 
appointment  at  Luang  Prabang,  starting  from  Bangkok 
in  the  company  of  McCarthy,  who  had  with  him  Collins 
and  Louis  du  Plessis  de  Richelieu,  all  three  being  in  the 
service  of  Siam.  At  Pak-nam  Po  McCarthy  and  Pavie 
separated,  each  going  on  independently  to  Luang  Pra- 
bang. McCarthy,  who  did  not  wish  to  interfere  with 
the  transport  arrangements  of  the  Siamese  army,  which 
was  making  its  way  from  the  valley  of  the  Menam  to 
fight  against  the  Haw  across  the  Mekong,  ascended  the 
Me-ping  to  Chieng  Mai,  and  thence  struck  off  in  a 
northerly  direction  to  Chieng  Rai  on  the  Nam  Kok,  a 
right-bank  tributary  of  the  Mekong.  Descending  this 
river,  he  struck  the  Mekong  at  Chieng  Hsen,  and  so 
reached  Luang  Prabang.  Thence  he  immmediately  set 
out  for  Muong  Teng,  where  he  joined  a wing  of  the 
Siamese  army  on  December  16th,  1885.  It  had  been  his 
intention  to  make  for  Muong  Lai  and  to  survey  the  natu- 
ral boundary  between  the  valley  of  the  Mekong  and 
Tongking,  but  Phia  Surasak,  the  Siamese  general,  pre- 
ferred to  send  him  to  Sop  Et  on  the  Song  Ma,  whence  he 
was  to  survey  the  boundary  of  the  district  known  as  Hua 
Pan  Tang  Ha  Tang  Hok,  eventually  making  his  way  to 
Nong  Kai  on  the  Mekong.  De  Richelieu,  falling  sick, 
was  sent  back  to  Luang  Prabang,  Collins  going  with 
McCarthy.  An  attack  of  his  old  enemy,  fever,  interfered, 


FURTHER  EXPLORATIONS  3 15 


however,  with  McCarthy’s  plans  and  he  was  forced  to  re- 
turn to  Luang  Prabang  and  Bangkok.  Shortly  after- 
wards, the  Haw,  having  got  the  better  of  the  Siamese 
troops,  swooped  down  upon  Luang  Prabang,  their 
advance  meeting  with  no  opposition,  and  sacked  that  city. 

In  1887  the  French  in  Tongking  made  a final  effort 
to  subdue  the  outlying  provinces,  and  attacked  the 
Haw  before  the  Siamese  army  under  Phia  Surasak  had 
quitted  the  valley  of  the  Menam.  It  was  now  that  Pavie 
began  a series  of  journeys  through  the  country  lying 
between  the  Mekong  and  Tongking,  eventually  effecting 
a junction  with  the  French  troops  in  the  latter  kingdom. 
In  1888  he  was  joined  by  Captain  Cupet  and  Lieutenant 
Nicolon,  who  met  him  near  Luang  Prabang  just  after 
his  return  from  his  first  journey  into  Tongking.  Nicolon 
was  left  at  Luang  Prabang  to  survey  the  district,  and 
Pavie  and  Cupet  once  more  set  off  for  Tongking,  their 
objective  being  Tak-Khoa  on  the  Song-Koi.  From  this 
place  Cupet  returned  to  Luang  Prabang  by  a new  route, 
and  in  1889  he  surveyed  the  country  to  the  eastward  of 
the  Mekong  farther  to  the  south,  and  explored  the  whole 
of  it  from  Laos  and  Kambodia  to  Annam  and  the  China 
Sea,  covering  in  his  journeys  across  and  across  the 
country  more  than  5,500  miles  in  all.  He  also  in  1888 
travelled  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Mekong  from  Pak  Lai 
to  Pit  Chai  on  the  Menam,  surveying  the  intervening 
country,  and  in  1893  he,  in  conjunction  with  Captain 
Friquegnon  and  Captain  de  Malglaive,  was  appointed  to 
edit  the  great  map  of  Indo-China  which  has  been  pre- 
pared under  the  auspices  of  M.  Pavie. 

Captain  de  Malglaive,  who  was  also  attached  at  a 


3 16 


FURTHER  INDIA 


somewhat  later  period  to  the  “ Mission  Pavie,”  undertook 
an  important  series  of  explorations  in  1890  and  1891  be- 
tween the  coast  of  central  Annam  and  the  Mekong,  his 
object  being  to  discover  the  best  means  of  communica- 
tion through  the  country.  M.  Harmand,  whose  name 
has  already  been  mentioned,  had  partly  explored  this 
region  between  1875-77,  his  principal  journey  in  the 
former  year  being  up  the  Mekong  to  Khong,  and  thence 
through  the  Siamese  provinces  of  Melu-prey,  Tonle 
Repu,  and  Kompang  Soai,  which  had  never  previously 
been  traversed  by  a European.  From  the  slopes  of 
Dongrek  to  near  Prea-khan,  he  found  few  Kambodians, 
almost  the  entire  population  being  composed  of  Kui 
tribesmen.  In  1877  Harmand  explored  the  southern 
basin  of  the  Se-mun,  went  from  Pnom  Penh  to  Siam- 
Reap,  and  thence  cut  across  to  Bassak  and  the  country 
between  that  place  and  the  Se-Dom.  He  next  explored 
the  valley  of  the  Se-Dom  as  far  as  Atopeu,  a piece  of 
work  already  accomplished  to  some  extent  by  de  Lagree, 
and  later  made  his  way  from  Pnom  Penh  to  Lakon,  and 
thence  to  Nghe  An  and  Binh-Dinh,  succeeding  in  the 
course  of  his  journeys  in  making  some  important  recti- 
fications in  the  map  of  the  delta  of  the  Mekong.  This 
was  the  work  which  Captain  de  Malglaive  now  completed, 
crossing  the  divide  between  the  Mekong  and  the  sea  no 
less  than  five  times,  and  carrying  a line  of  survey  over 
this  rough  tract  of  country  by  four  separate  routes.  The 
fruit  of  his  labours  was  the  discovery  of  an  excellent 
route  from  the  coast  into  the  interior  by  the  passage  of 
Ai-Lao. 

In  1890-91  Captain  Riviere  completed  some  interesting 


The  Great  Rapid.  Red  River,  Lukay  to  Manhao 


FURTHER  EXPLORATIONS  317 


explorations  under  Pavie  in  the  upper  basin  of  the  Me- 
kong, especially  in  the  district  to  the  south-east  of  Luang 
Prabang,  and  in  1894  he  was  attached  to  the  Pavie  mis- 
sion for  the  examination  of  the  upper  Mekong  in  con- 
nection with  Sir  J.  G.  Scott’s  Mekong  Commission. 
Riviere,  like  Henri  Mouhot  before  him,  sacrificed  his 
life  in  the  cause  of  exploration,  and  though  his  reports 
have  since  been  published  by  M.  Pavie,  they  do  scant 
justice  to  the  work  which  he  performed.  Another  officer 
attached  to  the  Mission  Pavie  was  M.  Lefevre-Pontalis, 
who  accompanied  M.  Pavie  on  many  of  his  journeys  and 
was  afterwards  attached  to  the  Mekong  Commission  of 
1894,  in  the  course  of  which  he  explored  the  middle  val- 
ley of  the  Nam  Hu,  in  conjunction  with  Lieutenant 
Thomassin  and  Dr.  Lefevre,  a district  which,  as  we  have 
seen,  had  already  been  visited  and  mapped  by  McCarthy 
and  Collins.  Other  important  explorations  have  also 
been  made  under  the  auspices  of  M.  Pavie,  but  at  the 
time  of  writing  the  results  obtained  have  not  yet  been 
published,  though  all  will  eventually  appear  in  the  monu- 
mental work  on  French  Indo-China  edited  by  M.  Pavie, 
five  huge  quarto  volumes  of  which  have  already  been 
given  to  the  public.  The  fruit  of  all  these  explorations  is 
the  magnificent  large-scale  map  of  Indo-China  which  has 
now  been  published  by  the  French  Government  under 
the  editorship  already  named.  It  is  a monument  of 
accurate  and  patient  labour,  and  not  only  surpasses  any- 
thing of  the  kind  that  the  British  have  done  for  Malaya, 
but  compares  favourably  with  the  great  maps  produced 
by  the  Survey  Department  of  India. 

In  1895  an  expedition  under  Prince  Henri  of  Orleans 


318  FURTHER  INDIA 

explored  the  greater  portion  of  the  long  stretch  of  the 
Mekong  River  that  lies  within  the  Chinese  province  of 
Yun-nan,  and  then  turning  west  made  important  contri- 
butions to  our  knowledge  of  the  headwaters  of  the  Ira- 
wadi.  The  European  members  of  the  party  included, 
besides  Prince  Henri,  M.  Roux,  who  superintended  the 
cartographical  work,  and  M.  Briffaud.  After  penetrating 
to  the  interior  by  way  of  the  Red  River,  the  expedition 
struck  westwards  from  Isse,  a town  north  of  the  French 
frontier,  and  made  its  way  through  unexplored  country 
to  the  Mekong,  which  was  reached  at  a place  called 
Ti-an-pi  in  22°  38'  N.  lat.  “ The  river  here,”  says 
Prince  Henri,  “ is  from  350  to  about  500  feet  wide.”  It 
flows  partly  between  wooded  hills  whose  slopes  are  less 
steep  than  those  which  form  the  valley  of  the  Red  River. 
Rapids  render  navigation  impossible  in  some  places. 
Striking  the  river  from  time  to  time,  the  expedition 
journeyed  northward  through  the  country  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  Mekong  as  far  as  24°  45'  N.  lat.  Here  a 
crossing  was  effected,  and  the  travellers  pushed  on  to 
Ta-li-fu.  After  a rest  at  this  now  well-known  stopping- 
place,  the  expedition  again  turned  west  to  the  Mekong, 
which  was  reached  at  Fei-long-kiao,  in  250  50'  N.  An  ex- 
cursion was  made  still  farther  west,  to  the  Salwin  River, 
and  then  the  expedition  ascended  the  valley  of  the  Me- 
kong, following  the  course  of  the  river  more  or  less 
closely  as  far  as  Tseku,  on  the  Tibetan  frontier,  north 
of  the  28th  parallel.  During  this  part  of  the  journey 
the  scientific  instruments  were  stolen,  and  henceforward 
the  route  could  only  be  laid  down  by  compass.  North 
of  Tseku  the  course  of  the  Mekong  has  been  followed 


Village  Road,  Anam 


FURTHER  EXPLORATIONS  319 


by  French  missionaries,  and  at  that  place  the  explora- 
tion of  the  river  by  Prince  Henri’s  expedition  practically 
came  to  a close,  though  a trip  was  made  three  days’  jour- 
ney farther  north,  to  Atense.  Once  more  turning  west, 
the  expedition  made  an  important  journey  through  dif- 
ficult country  to  Sadiya,  situated  at  the  great  bend  of  the 
Brahmaputra.  The  passage  of  this  stretch  of  country 
entailed  severe  hardships  on  all  concerned,  but  as  a result 
of  the  journey  Prince  Henri  was  led  to  more  than  one 
interesting  conclusion.  In  the  first  place  he  found  the 
Salwin  to  be,  on  the  same  latitude  as  Tseku,  “a  large, 
fairly  deep  river,  coming  from  a long  distance,”  and 
affirmed  that  missionary  and  native  evidence,  coupled 
with  the  observations  of  his  own  expedition,  showed  the 
Oi  Chu  of  Tibet,  the  Lu-tze-kiang,  and  the  Salwin,  to 
be  sections  of  one  and  the  same  river.  In  the  second 
place  he  reported  that  the  headwaters  of  the  Irawadi 
comprised  three  main  streams,  the  Kiu-kiang  and  the 
Telo  in  the  east,  and  the  Nam-kiu  in  the  west.  Of  these 
the  Kiu-kiang  has  the  largest  volume  of  water,  “ and 
its  source  is  farther  north  in  a well-known  mountain  in 
Tsarony,  two  days’  journey  from  Menkong,  i.e.,  28°  or 
29°  lat.  north.  The  Telo  issues  from  a mountain  that 
we  had  seen  farther  south.  The  mountain  out  of  which 
the  Nam-kiu  has  its  source  can  be  seen  from  Khamti, 
and  is  well  known  to  the  English.”  On  the  north  the 
whole  of  the  basin  of  the  Irawadi  is  bounded,  Prince 
Henri  further  declared,  by  a chain  of  mountains,  form- 
ing apparently  a continuation  of  the  Himalaya.  These 
mountains  are  intersected  by  openings  through  which 
flow  the  Dibong  and  the  Lohit.  As  to  the  great  volume 


3 20 


FURTHER  INDIA 


of  the  Irawadi  in  its  upper  reaches,  a feature  of  the  river 
which  had  been  of  great  weight  in  inducing  some  geog- 
raphers to  support  the  view  that  the  main  sources  of  the 
Irawadi  were  to  be  found  far  away  to  the  north,  in  the 
San-po  River  to  Tibet,  Prince  Henri  pointed  out  that 
this  was  due  to  the  comparatively  wide  extent  of  the 
valley  of  the  Upper  Irawadi,  the  width  of  which,  where 
crossed  by  the  expedition,  he  set  down  as  1 1 5 miles, 
while  in  the  same  latitude  the  width  of  the  Salwin  val- 
ley was  not  more  than  25  miles.  If  this  evidence  may 
be  accepted,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  its  accuracy, 
Prince  Henri  may  justly  claim  that  his  expedition  prac- 
tically solved  the  problem  of  the  sources  of  the  Irawadi. 

To  return  for  the  moment  to  McCarthy  and  his  work 
in  Siam,  we  find  him  in  1887  and  1888  engaged  upon 
the  trace  for  the  now  completed  railway  from  Bangkok 
to  Korat  via  Ayuthia,  and  on  a similar  trace  to  Chieng 
Mai  via  Utarit,  on  the  Menam,  and  Muong  Pre,  a Lao- 
tine  town  on  the  Nam  Yom.  In  1890  McCarthy  took 
up  survey  work  on  the  north-west,  to  delimit  the 
boundary  between  Siam  and  Burma,  but  the  fact  of 
his  nationality  made  him  suspect,  and  he  quitted  this 
unpleasant  task  as  soon  as  possible.  At  the  end  of 

1890,  aided  by  Siamese  surveyors  whom  he  had  himself 
trained  to  the  work,  he  made  a series  of  valuable  sur- 
veys in  northern  Siam,  fixing  the  height  of  Doi  Intanon 
(8,450  feet),  a mountain  to  the  west  of  Chieng  Mai, 
which  is  the  highest  peak  in  Siam,  and  later  making  a 
trigonometrical  station  on  Pahom  Pok,  a peak  on  the 
range  which  divides  Siam  from  Burma,  the  summit  of 
which  was  reached  after  great  labour  on  February  24th, 

1891. 


Kachin  Village 


FURTHER  EXPLORATIONS  321 


This  peak  had  been  fixed  by  the  Indian  surveyors  in 
1889-90,  at  which  period  an  Anglo-Siamese  Commis- 
sion, on  which  Great  Britain  was  represented  by  Sir 
James  Scott,  the  Superintendent  of  the  Northern  Shan 
States,  had  delimited  the  boundary  between  Burma  and 
Siam.  McCarthy  therefore  took  this  as  his  starting- 
point,  and  from  it  made  his  triangulations  which  were 
the  beginning  of  a trigonometrical  survey  of  northern 
Siam.  McCarthy,  with  a few  European  assistants,  the 
most  prominent  of  whom  was  Mr.  Smiles,  yet  another 
victim  to  the  work  of  exploration  in  these  regions,  con- 
tinued to  push  his  surveys  forward  until  the  middle  of 
1893,  much  help  being  rendered  to  him  by  the  native 
surveyors  whom  he  had  trained.  Shortly  after  that 
date  he  was  able  to  publish  the  first  really  reliable  map 
of  the  kingdom,  which,  up  to  the  present  time,  has  re- 
ceived no  material  additions  that  have  been  made  public. 
An  examination  of  this  map  shows  that  northern  Siam, 
Mr.  McCarthy’s  especial  sphere  of  labour,  has  now  been 
carefully  and  fully  explored,  as  also  have  a narrow  area 
along  the  valley  of  the  Menam  and  its  branches,  and 
the  mountain  ranges  which  divide  British  territory  from 
Siam.  Eastern  Siam,  between  the  lower  Menam  and 
the  Mekong,  is  far  less  fully  mapped,  though  all  places 
of  real  importance  have  been  visited  and  their  positions 
fixed.  The  valley  of  the  Meklong  is  fairly  well  known, 
but  the  rest  of  lower  Siam,  south  of  the  Tenasserim,  is 
still  very  imperfectly  known,  McCarthy’s  surveys  in 
Raman,  made  in  1883,  being  the  most  accurate  work  of 
the  kind  yet  done  in  this  region. 

It  has  already  been  pointed  out  that,  after  the  war  of 


322  FURTHER  INDIA 

1885  had  at  last  drawn  to  a close,  the  systematic  survey 
of  Burma  and  the  Shan  States  under  Burmese  rule  was 
begun.  Thus  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century  saw  the 
trained  surveyor  penetrate  to  the  heart  alike  of  the  Brit- 
ish, the  French,  and  the  Siamese  spheres.  Indeed  it  may 
be  said  that  the  Anglo-Siamese  Boundary  Commission 
of  1889-90,  the  Anglo-French  Mekong  Commission  of 
1894-96,  and  the  Burma-China  Boundary  Commission  of 
1898-1900 — of  all  of  which  Sir  James  Scott  was  a mem- 
ber— practically  completed  the  work  of  exploration  in 
those  regions  wherein  we  have  watched  the  gradual 
growth  of  discovery  from  its  primitive  beginnings.  The 
labours  of  these  Commissions  cannot  be  here  followed  in 
detail.  In  many  cases  ground  was  traversed  which  had 
already  been  explored  and  described  by  travellers  whose 
journeys  we  have  examined ; for  the  rest  these  Commis- 
sions linked  up  individual  and  independent  explorations, 
and  did  the  work  with  an  accuracy  which  had  been  be- 
yond the  reach  of  earlier  geographers.  With  the  era  of 
Boundary  Commissions  much  of  the  adventure,  the 
glamour  and  the  romance  of  exploration  inevitably  van- 
ishes. Discovery,  in  the  old  sense  of  the  word,  is  at  an 
end,  and  the  work,  for  all  its  geographical  and  political 
importance,  assumes  the  more  sombre  tinge  of  prosaic 
business,  done  with  comparative  ease  and  comfort  in  a 
dull,  methodical  fashion,  as  business  should  be  done. 
The  achievements  of  these  Commissions  are  best  appre- 
ciated by  a study  of  the  recent  maps  of  the  Indo-Chinese 
Hinterland,  which  disclose  an  almost  bewildering  wealth 
of  detail  in  all  the  regions  under  effective  European 
domination,  that  is  to  say,  in  every  part  of  it  with  the 


FURTHER  EXPLORATIONS  323 


exception  of  portions  of  China  and  Siam  and  a few  unin- 
habited or  sparsely  peopled  tracts. 

But  we  have  still  to  review  the  progress  of  exploration 
in  the  Malay  Peninsula  during  the  past  quarter  of  a cen- 
tury. It  has  been  noted  that  up  to  1874  the  interior  was 
practically  unknown  to  Europeans,  though  Newbolt, 
Crawfurd  and  Logan  had  collected  a vast  quantity  of 
information  concerning  it  from  native  sources.  In  1874 
the  Sultan  of  Perak  applied  for  advice  and  assistance  to 
the  Governor  of  the  Straits  Settlements,  and  Mr.  J.  W. 
Birch,  Colonial  Secretary  in  Singapore,  was  sent  to  re- 
side at  his  Court.  Shortly  afterwards  the  Sultan  and 
the  rival  claimant  to  the  throne  settled  their  differences 
on  the  grounds  of  common  detestation  of  the  white  men, 
and  Mr.  Birch  was  treacherously  murdered.  Upon  this 
British  troops  were  landed  in  Perak,  and  after  a short 
war  the  Sultan  Abdullah  was  exiled  to  the  Seychelles, 
and  his  relative  Raja  Muda  Jusuf  was  made  Regent. 
Sir  Hugh  Low,  an  officer  of  great  experience  of  the 
Malays,  who  had  imbibed  from  the  first  Raja  Brooke 
sound  principles  on  the  subject  of  European  responsibili- 
ties towards  and  methods  of  governing  natives,  was 
appointed  Resident  of  Perak,  and  under  his  wise  and 
tactful  guidance  complete  tranquillity  was  speedily  re- 
stored. 

Prolonged  civil  war  and  acts  of  piracy  and  aggression 
led  to  the  adoption  of  a similar  policy  in  Selangor  and 
Sungei  Ujong — two  Native  States  farther  to  the  south, 
on  the  western  shore  of  the  Peninsula — and  in  1887  a 
treaty  was  entered  into  with  the  Sultan  of  Pahang,  on 
the  east  coast,  whereby  a British  agent,  the  present  writer, 


3^4 


FURTHER  INDIA 


was  appointed  to  reside  at  Pekan,  the  capital,  and  was 
invested  with  consular  powers.  During  the  following 
year  a British  subject,  a Chinaman,  was  murdered  at 
Pekan  in  very  unequivocal  circumstances,  and  the  British 
Government,  considering  that  the  presence  of  a British 
Resident  in  Pahang  was  the  only  sufficient  guarantee  for 
the  safety  of  life  and  property,  induced  the  Sultan  to 
place  his  country  under  British  protection.  In  1891  dis- 
turbances broke  out  in  the  State,  which  lasted  for  some- 
thing over  a twelvemonth,  by  which  time  the  rebel  lead- 
ers had  been  driven  to  seek  refuge  over  the  border  in  the 
independent  States  of  Trengganu  and  Kelantan.  A raid 
into  Pahang  headed  by  these  outlaws  occurred  in  1894, 
and  in  the  following  year  an  expedition,  composed  of 
irregular  native  levies  under  European  leadership,  was 
sent  into  Kelantan  and  Trengganu  for  the  purpose  of 
effecting  their  capture.  The  ringleaders  subsequently 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Siamese  commissioners  sent 
from  Bangkok  to  aid  in  their  arrest,  and  after  one  of 
them  had  been  treacherously  murdered  by  Siamese  offi- 
cials, the  survivors  were  carried  off  to  Siam.  Since  that 
time  the  peace  of  the  British  protectorate  has  not  been 
broken. 

It  was  after  the  wars  in  Perak  and  Sungei  Ujong, 
and  the  bombardment  of  Kuala  Selangor  by  a British 
ship,  that  the  task  of  exploring  the  interior  began  in  ear- 
nest. During  the  Perak  war  British  troops  had  ascended 
the  river  as  far  as  Kota  Lama,  but  though  an  Italian, 
Mr.  Bozzolo,  in  the  service  of  the  Perak  Government, 
who  had  been  engaged  in  mining  operations  in  Petani, 
explored  the  country  from  that  point  to  the  little  State 


FURTHER  EXPLORATIONS  325 


of  Raman  between  1880  and  1883,  it  was  not  until  the 
latter  year  that  the  Perak  River,  which  had  been  as- 
cended by  the  late  Sir  William  Maxwell  in  1875,  was 
mapped  almost  to  its  source,  partly  by  M.  St.  George 
Caulfield  and  partly,  as  we  have  seen,  by  Mr.  McCarthy. 
A few  years  prior  to  this  the  Peninsula  had  been  crossed 
from  Sungei  Ujong  to  the  mouth  of  the  Pahang  River  by 
Messrs.  Daly  and  O’Brien,  who  had  followed  the  route 
leading  over  the  mountains  to  the  Bra,  a right-bank  tribu- 
tary of  the  Pahang.  In  1884-85  Mr.  William  Cameron, 
an  explorer  in  Government  employ,  made  his  way  from 
the  Kinta  valley  in  Perak  over  the  main  range  into  the 
valley  of  the  Telom,  one  of  the  upper  branches  of  the 
Pahang  River,  descended  the  Telom  to  its  junction  with 
the  Jelai,  and  the  latter  stream  to  Kuala  Tembeling.  At 
this  point  the  united  waters  first  take  the  name  of  Pa- 
hang, and  Cameron  continued  his  descent  of  that  river  to 
the  sea,  making  a time  and  compass  survey  of  his  route. 

In  1884  Mr.,  now  Sir  Frank,  Swettenham,  who  at  that 
time  was  acting  for  Sir  Hugh  Low  as  Resident  of  Perak, 
crossed  the  Peninsula  to  the  mouth  of  the  Pahang  with 
Captain  Giles,  R.A.,  and  the  Hon.  Martin  Lister.  The 
route  followed  was  up  the  Berman  River,  a stream  which 
had  been  first  explored  by  Sir  Frank  Swettenham  some 
years  earlier,  and  then  up  its  tributary,  the  Siam.  From 
this  point  the  party  was  conveyed  overland  by  elephants 
to  the  headwaters  of  the  Lipis,  the  main  right-bank 
tributary  of  the  Jelai.  The  two  rivers  flow  together 
some  twenty  miles  above  Kuala  Tembeling,  and  from 
their  confluence  the  party  descended  the  Pahang  River 
to  its  mouth,  and  returned  to  the  west  coast  by  sea. 


326 


FURTHER  INDIA 


Captain  Giles  somewhat  improved  upon  the  time  and 
compass  survey  which  had  already  been  made  by  Mr. 
Cameron. 

A few  years  before  this,  a Russian,  Baron  Mikioucho- 
Maclay,  had  made  his  way  up  the  Pahang  River  to  Kuala 
Tembeling,  and  up  that  stream  to  Kuala  Sat,  whence  he 
had  walked  over  the  divide  into  the  Lebir  valley,  one 
of  the  main  branches  of  the  Kelantan  River.  Such  sur- 
veys as  he  made,  however,  were  very  inexact  and  added 
little  to  the  knowledge  of  this  region  which  had  already 
been  obtained  from  native  sources. 

Between  1884  and  1887  a number  of  speculators  were 
busy  obtaining  concessions  from  the  Sultan  of  Pahang, 
and  the  Peninsula  was  crossed  by  several  of  their  em- 
ployees from  the  mouth  of  the  Klang  River  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Pahang,  via  Kuala  Kubu,  Raub,  and  the  Lipis  val- 
ley, the  line  of  country  over  which  the  Selangor  railway 
and  the  Pahang  trunk  road  now  pass.  In  1887  the 
present  writer  followed  in  the  steps  of  Sir  Frank  Swet- 
tenham,  crossing  the  Peninsula  by  the  Siam  route  and 
descending  the  river  to  the  sea,  and  in  the  following 
year  he  undertook  an  extensive  journey  through  the  dis- 
tricts lying  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  main  range  in 
Pahang  territory,  rejoining  the  Pahang  River  via  its 
right-bank  tributary,  the  Semantan.  About  the  same 
time  the  Peninsula  was  crossed  from  Kedah  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Petani  River  by  several  gentlemen  interested  in 
mining,  the  first  of  whom  to  make  a survey  of  the  route 
was  the  late  Mr.  H.  M.  Becher,  who  in  1895  lost  his  life 
while  attempting  to  make  the  ascent  of  Giinong  Tahan, 
which  is  believed  to  be  the  highest  peak  in  the  Malay 
Peninsula. 


View  of  River  from  Belida,  Kechau,  Pahang 


FURTHER  EXPLORATIONS  327 


Meanwhile  in  Perak,  Selangor,  and  Sungei  Ujong,  the 
work  of  detailed  survey  and  exploration  was  going  for- 
ward steadily  under  the  auspices  of  the  local  Govern- 
ments, and  in  1887  our  protectorate  was  extended  to  the 
Negri  Sembilan,  or  Nine  States,  which  form  the  Hinter- 
land of  Malacca.  Little  by  little  the  whole  of  the  coun- 
try on  the  west  coast,  from  the  boundaries  of  Kedah  to 
the  Muar  River,  which  is  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Johor, 
was  mapped  with  considerable  accuracy,  and  this  region 
has  since  been  opened  up  by  means  of  railways  and  ex- 
cellent roads.  On  the  east  coast  a similar  service  was  per- 
formed for  Pahang,  and  in  1895  the  present  writer,  while 
leading  an  armed  expedition  over  the  British  borders, 
traversed  and  mapped  the  whole  of  the  Trengganu  val- 
ley from  the  mountains  to  the  sea,  being  the  first  white 
man  to  cross  the  Peninsula  by  this  route.  Mr.  R.  W. 
Duff,  who  accompanied  the  expedition,  added  to  the  map 
the  valleys  of  the  Stiu  and  Besut,  two  rivers  which  fall 
into  the  sea  north  of  Kuala  Trengganu,  and  on  the 
same  occasion  the  Lebir  and  a large  part  of  the  Kelan- 
tan  River  were  roughly  surveyed.  Three  years  earlier 
Mr.  W.  W.  Bailey  had  crossed  the  divide  between  the 
upper  waters  of  the  Jelai  and  those  of  the  Galas,  the 
main  branch  of  the  Kelantan,  and  had  descended  and 
roughly  surveyed  the  latter  river  to  its  mouth.  In  1896 
the  late  Mr.  D.  H.  Wise,  while  acting  as  Resident  of 
Pahang,  reached  the  divide  between  the  Pahang  and 
Kinta  Rivers,  following  in  an  opposite  direction  the  route 
which  twelve  years  earlier  had  been  traversed  by  Mr. 
William  Cameron.  The  Kelantan  River  has  since  been 
explored  in  some  detail  by  Mr.  R.  W.  Duff  and  the  gen- 


328 


FURTHER  INDIA 


tlemen  associated  with  him  in  the  exploitation  of  the 
mines  of  Kelantan. 

This  brief  summary  will  suffice  to  convey  an  idea  of 
the  extent  to  which  exploration  has  been  carried  up  to 
the  present  time  in  the  Malay  Peninsula.  In  the  western 
States  under  British  protection  the  work  of  survey  in 
its  rougher  stages  may  be  said  to  have  been  completed, 
though  the  trigonometrical  work  begun  in  1883  in  Perak 
has  made  slow  progress.  On  the  eastern  side,  Pahang 
has  now  been  fully,  and  Trengganu,  Kelantan,  and  Pe- 
tani partially,  explored,  though  even  in  the  first-named 
State  there  are  still  large  areas  of  forest  which  have 
never  been  penetrated  by  a white  man,  and  others  where 
it  is  probable  that  no  Malay  has  ever  set  foot.  The  areas 
which  have  been  least  adequately  explored  are  the  dis- 
tricts under  the  rule  of  the  Sultan  of  Johor,  which  in- 
clude the  whole  of  the  southern  portion  of  the  Malay 
Peninsula,  though  the  country  between  the  Endau  and 
the  Pahang  Rivers  has  been  visited  severally  by  Mr. 
H.  B.  Ellerton  in  1897,  and  Mr.  E.  Townley  in  1900. 
Similarly  on  the  north,  from  Kedah  to  the  Isthmus  of 
Kra,  and  on  the  east  coast  above  the  Petani  River,  the 
knowledge  which  we  possess  of  the  interior  is  very  im- 
perfect, though  the  area  in  question  is  not  great  and  the 
coast-lines  have  been  determined  by  Admiralty  surveys. 
The  Skeat  expedition  of  1899-1900,  though  its  objects 
were  mainly  ethnological,  added  considerably  to  the  de- 
tails in  our  possession  relating  to  Kelantan,  Petani,  and 
the  neighbouring  districts ; but  on  this  occasion  compara- 
tively little  new  ground  was  broken. 

Gunong  Tahan,  which,  as  already  stated,  is  believed  to 


On  the  Tenasserim  River 


FURTHER  EXPLORATIONS  329 


be  the  highest  mountain  in  the  Malay  Peninsula,  is  situ- 
ated in  the  range  from  which  many  of  the  rivers  of  the 
Jelai  and  Lebir  valleys  take  their  source.  Several  unsuc- 
cessful attempts  were  made  to  reach  its  summit  before 
the  feat  was  accomplished  by  Mr.  Waterstradt  in  1901. 
Messrs.  Davidson  and  Ridley  tried  to  effect  its  ascent 
from  the  Tembeling  side  by  means  of  the  Tahan  River  in 
1893,  but  they  were  forced  to  turn  back,  owing  to  want  of 
sufficient  provisions,  at  a very  early  stage  of  their  jour- 
ney. Mr.  H.  M.  Becher  repeated  the  attempt,  follow- 
ing the  same  route,  in  1894,  but  he  was  unfortunately 
drowned  in  a sudden  freshet  of  the  Tahan  River  before 
he  had  done  more  than  obtain  a distant  view  of  the  peak. 
Mr.  Skeat  made  a solitary  dash  for  Gunong  Tahan  in 
the  course  of  his  journey,  but  he  too  failed.  Mr.  Water- 
stradt approached  Gunong  Tahan  from  the  north,  and 
had  some  difficulty  in  identifying  the  mountain.  He 
first  attempted  the  ascent  from  the  Pahang  side,  but 
after  climbing  4,000  feet  was  brought  to  a stop  by  a 
sheer  wall  of  rock,  down  which  poured  an  enormous 
volume  of  water  into  the  Tahan  River.  Success,  how- 
ever, finally  crowned  his  efforts  on  the  north  or  Kelantan 
side  of  the  mountain,  where  the  most  serious  obstacle 
to  progress  was  the  dense  jungle  which  is  characteristic 
of  the  surrounding  country.  According  to  Mr.  Water- 
stradt, Gunong  Tahan  is  less  lofty  than  it  was  thought 
to  be,  attaining  only  from  7,500  to  8,000  feet  in  height. 

In  this  chapter  we  have  surveyed  the  progress  of  ex- 
ploration in  Indo-China,  in  Siam  and  in  the  Malay  Penin- 
sula, during  the  concluding  years  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury. Space  has  often  forbidden  a more  detailed  exami- 


33° 


FURTHER  INDIA 


nation  of  work,  here  described  in  outline,  which  from  its 
intrinsic  interest  merits  more  elaborate  treatment ; but 
it  is  hoped  that  sufficient  has  been  said  to  enable  the 
reader  to  obtain  a fair  general  idea  of  what  has  been 
accomplished  in  these  regions.  In  every  case  the  su- 
premacy of  Europeans  or  the  extension  of  European 
influence,  whether  in  the  realm  of  politics  or  of  ideas, 
has  been  a necessary  prelude  to  the  advancement  of 
knowledge.  The  lands  in  question  have  been  the  homes 
of  men  of  the  brown  or  yellow  races,  but  in  every  case 
the  geographical  work  done  therein  has  been  inspired,  if 
not  actually  executed,  by  Europeans  alone.  Science  is, 
for  the  moment,  the  exclusive  possession  of  the  white 
races,  and  while  in  many  lands  men  of  European  breed 
are  bringing  law  and  order,  peace  and  plenty,  into 
troubled  places,  that  other  task  of  advancing  the  know- 
ledge of  the  world  proceeds  apace,  and  yearly  more  and 
more  light  is  made  to  pierce  the  darkness  which  has  so 
long  obscured  our  view  of  the  less  accessible  parts  of 
Asia.  Precisely  what  that  light  has  so  far  revealed  will 
be  the  subject  of  our  next  and  concluding  chapter. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


CHRYSE  THE  GOLDEN  AS  IT  STANDS  REVEALED  TO-DAY 

THE  story  of  the  exploration  of  south-eastern 
Asia  by  Europeans — and  Europeans,  for  our 
purposes,  are  the  only  true  explorers — has  now 
been  told.  We  have  seen  the  first  dim  dawning  of  the 
idea  that  the  Gangetic  Valley  was  not  in  truth  the  most 
easterly  limit  of  the  habitable  world — that  beyond  it  lay 
other  lands,  to  which  distance  lent  the  glamour  of  mys- 
tery and  of  romance.  We  have  seen  how  Chryse  the 
Golden,  the  earliest  conception  of  which  was  an  island 
of  paltry  extent  lying  over  against  the  mouths  of  the 
Ganges,  began  at  last  to  find  a place  upon  the  maps  of 
the  ancient  geographers;  how  later  this  germ  of  truth 
developed  into  the  Golden  Chersonese  of  Ptolemy  and 
Marinus  of  Tyre.  Thereafter  we  have  watched  the 
growth  of  knowledge  of  south-eastern  Asia,  fostered  first 
by  the  adventurous  Arabian  and  Persian  traders,  who  so 
long  held  the  commercial  empire  of  the  East  after  the 
rise  of  the  Power  of  Islam,  then  extended  little  by  little 
by  the  tales  brought  home  to  Europe  by  the  mediaeval 
wanderers  of  Italy.  Next,  with  the  dawning  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  came  the  invasion  of  the  East  by  the 
Portuguese,  the  events  of  which,  in  so  far  as  they  affect 
Chyrse  the  Golden,  have  been  examined  in  so  much  de- 
tail in  a section  of  this  work.  After  that  period  of 

33* 


FURTHER  INDIA 


33* 

adventure,  lawlessness  and  rediscovery  of  ancient  lands 
came  the  age  of  the  great  trading  companies  of  Britain 
and  of  Holland,  an  epoch  which,  though  trade  reigned 
supreme  and  political  supremacy  was  sought  after  as 
merely  a road  to  riches,  has  a romance  of  its  own  because 
of  the  mighty  over-seas  empires  of  which  these  commer- 
cial ventures  were  the  beginning.  Lastly  we  have  traced 
the  gradual  extension  of  European  influence  throughout 
the  lands  of  south-eastern  Asia — in  Burma,  in  Malaya,  in 
Siam,  and  in  French  Indo-China — of  all  of  which  to-day 
Siam  alone  retains  its  ancient  independence,  though  it  too 
has  had  its  administrative  system  materially  altered  and 
improved  by  contact  with  the  nations  of  the  West.  It  is 
to  this  last  period — the  nineteenth  century,  and  more 
especially  the  concluding  half  of  that  century — that  the 
detailed  exploration  of  Chryse  the  Golden  belongs,  and 
it  now  remains  for  us  to  take  a rapid  survey  of  the 
information  acquired  and  of  the  work  which  remains  to 
be  accomplished. 

The  coast-line  of  the  great  Indo-Chinese  peninsula, 
from  the  mouths  of  the  Ganges  to  the  boundary  between 
Tongking  and  China,  has  now  been  surveyed  and  charted 
with  an  accuracy  that  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired,  and 
the  same  may  be  said  for  almost  the  whole  of  the  neigh- 
bouring archipelago  of  Malaya.  The  outline,  as  it  were, 
has  been  traced  with  the  utmost  exactitude : what  is  the 
extent  to  which  that  outline  has  been  filled  in? 

The  most  important  geographical  feature  of  these  lav- 
ishly watered  lands  is  their  immense  river-systems,  and 
it  will  be  convenient,  in  the  first  place,  to  see  what  is 
the  state  of  our  present  knowledge  with  regard  to  these. 


CHRYSE  THE  GOLDEN 


333 


The  Red  River  of  Tongking,  commonly  called  the 
Song-Koi,  but  named  Song-tao  by  the  Tongkingese, 
was,  as  we  have  seen,  first  descended  from  Yun-nan  by 
the  Frenchman  Dupuis,  who  afterwards  ascended  it  with 
a cargo  of  warlike  stores  from  Hanoi.  Its  navigability 
for  anything  bigger  than  native  poling-boats  was  long 
disputed,  but  in  August,  1890,  the  steam-launch  “ Yun- 
nan,” drawing  70  centimetres,  was  taken  up  as  far  as 
Laokai,  thus  proving  the  practicability  of  using  vessels 
of  shallow  draught  upon  the  river.  As  a trade-route, 
however,  the  Song-Koi  is  admittedly  unsatisfactory,  and 
the  French  Government  has  decided  that  railways,  not 
rivers,  are  to  be  regarded  as  the  only  possible  means  of 
opening  up  communication  with  the  southern  provinces 
of  China.  The  actual  sources  of  the  Red  River  have  not 
been  located  with  accuracy,  though  the  main  branch  is 
believed  to  take  its  rise  in  the  mountains  to  the  east  of 
King-tung,  in  Yun-nan,  in  approximately  240  N.  lat.  and 
103°  E.  long.  The  eastern  branch  rises  partly  in  the 
mountains  between  Tongking  and  Kwang-si,  and  partly 
in  the  latter  province,  while  the  western  branch,  the 
Song-Bo,  or  Black  River,  has  its  source  in  the  hills  to 
the  westward  of  Tsu-hiung,  in  Yun-nan.  Beyond  the 
Tongkingese  boundary  none  of  these  branches  has  been 
explored  or  surveyed  in  detail  for  any  great  portion  of 
its  course. 

The  Song-Ma,  the  next  important  river  to  the  south, 
has  been  traced  to  its  source  in  the  mountains  of  Uei- 
bak,  which  divide  its  basin  from  that  of  the  Nam  U,  a 
left-bank  tributary  of  the  Mekong  which  falls  into  that 
river  above  Luang  Prabang ; this  was  part  of  the  work 


334 


FURTHER  INDIA 


performed  by  M.  Pavie’s  mission.  Similarly  the  Song 
Ka,  still  farther  to  the  south,  has  been  traced  to  its  rise 
in  the  mountains  which  divide  Tongking  from  the  valley 
of  the  Mekong. 

We  come  now  to  the  Mekong  itself,  the  immense  river 
with  the  exploration  of  which  we  have  been  so  much 
engaged  in  the  pages  of  this  work.  Gamier,  it  will  be 
remembered,  arrived  unwillingly  at  the  conclusion  that 
the  Mekong  was  impracticable  for  navigation  by  steam- 
launches  above  the  Khong  rapids,  but  since  his  day  the 
construction  of  shallow-draught  river-craft  has  under- 
gone an  immense  development,  such  as  he  may  well  be 
excused  for  having  failed  to  foresee.  The  most  formid- 
able obstacle  in  the  Sombor  flight  of  rapids  was  the  fall 
known  as  Preatapang,  which  Gamier  himself  had  made 
two  several  attempts  to  examine,  and  had  pronounced 
impossible  for  steam-launches.  In  1883,  however,  Cap- 
tain Reveillere  succeeded  after  much  difficulty  in  forcing 
a launch  up  the  flight,  and  in  the  course  of  examinations 
made  during  1891  and  1892,  Lieutenant  Robaglia  discov- 
ered a channel  some  six  metres  in  width  which  is  practic- 
able for  steam-launches  at  all  seasons  of  the  year.  He 
further  discovered  that  the  island  of  Khon  is  in  fact  a 
cluster  of  small  islands,  and  in  one  of  the  channels  divid- 
ing these  it  has  been  found  possible  to  dig  a canal,  pro- 
tected by  locks,  which  gives  easy  access  to  the  river  above 
the  falls.  Steam  communication  between  Saigon  and  the 
reaches  immediately  above  Khon  is  thus  at  last  assured. 
In  1893  an  expedition  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant 
Simon  and  Ensign  Le  V ay  was  sent  with  three  steamers, 
the  Ham  Luong,  the  Massie  and  the  La  Grandiere,  to 


CHRYSE  THE  GOLDEN 


335 


attempt  the  navigation  of  the  Mekong  as  far  as  Luang 
Prabang.  A start  was  made  from  Khon,  and  after  a 
short  halt  at  Bassak,  Simon  and  Le  Vay  reached  Vien 
Chan  in  15  days  with  the  Ham  Luong  and  the  Massie, 
arriving  at  the  ancient  capital  of  Laos  on  November  27th. 
Two  years  later,  in  August  and  September,  1895,  Simon 
took  the  La  Grandiere  up-stream  to  Luang  Prabang  with- 
out mishap,  and  thence  proceeded  as  far  as  Keng  Hoi. 
This  rapid  fairly  beat  him,  and  he  was  forced  to  return 
to  Luang  Prabang,  but  on  October  15th  he  returned  to 
the  charge,  and  after  five  days  of  incessant  struggle  suc- 
ceeded in  reaching  Chieng  Khong,  having  counted  no 
fewer  than  forty-seven  rapids  on  the  way,  many  of  which 
he  describes  as  exceedingly  dangerous.  From  Chieng 
Khong  he  pushed  on  to  Chieng  Hsen,  above  which 
point  he  found  the  stream  shallow,  but  much  easier 
to  navigate,  and  on  October  25th  he  arrived  at  Tang- 
Ho,  which  is  distant  one  day’s  march  from  Chieng  Lap. 
In  1898  Ensign  Mazeran  explored  the  reaches  above 
Tang-Ho  for  a distance  of  about  five  and  thirty  miles, 
and  it  appears  to  be  probable  that  launches  may  yet  be 
conveyed  up-stream  as  far  as  Chieng  Hong,  the  highest 
point  on  the  .river  attained  by  McLeod  and  by  the  De 
Lagree-Garnier  expedition.  Up  to  the  present  time,  the 
distance  up-stream  which  steam-launches  have  been 
taken  by  French  officers — from  the  mouth  of  the  Me- 
kong to  a point  five  and  thirty  miles  above  Tang-Ho 
— is  1,600  miles.  The  fact  should  not  be  lost  sight 
of,  however,  that  this  is  a feat  that  cannot  be  regarded 
as  of  much  practical  utility.  Even  below  Luang  Pra- 
bang the  navigation  of  the  river  is  fraught  with  immense 


336  FURTHER  INDIA 


difficulty;  above  that  point  it  is  excessively  dangerous; 
and  therefore  it  may  safely  be  averred  that  there  is  little 
probability  of  the  trade  of  the  Hinterland  of  Indo-China 
being  diverted  from  its  ancient  channels  by  means  of  a 
steam  flotilla  plying  upon  the  waters  of  the  Mekong. 

The  actual  sources  of  the  Mekong  are  still  to  some 
extent  in  doubt,  though  the  upper  reaches  of  the  river 
have  been  explored  in  some  detail  by  Prjevalsky,  by  the 
Pundit  Krishna  who  was  sent  on  an  exploring  expedi- 
tion by  the  Government  of  India,  by  Dutreuil  de  Rhins 
in  1893,  and  by  Prince  Henri  of  Orleans  and  Lieutenant 
E.  Roux  in  1895.  The  best  information  at  our  disposal 
leads  to  the  belief  that  the  main  or  western  branch  of 
the  river  rises  on  the  slopes  of  Dza-Nag-Lung-Mung  in 
about  330  N.  lat.  and  about  930  E.  long.,  at  an  altitude 
of  16,760  feet  above  sea-level,  close  to  the  point  indi- 
cated by  Prjevalsky.  This  stream  is  called  the  Lung- 
Mung  until  it  unites  its  waters  with  that  of  the  Nor-Pa- 
Chu,  when  it  assumes  the  name  of  Dza-Nag-Chu  and 
flows  through  deep  ravines,  the  surrounding  country 
being  sparsely  inhabited  by  Tibetan  Gejis,  a wild  tribe 
in  a primitive  state  of  civilisation.  Lower  down  it 
receives  the  waters  of  the  Dza-Gar-Chu  and  is  called  the 
Dza-Chu,  the  name  by  which  it  is  known  throughout  the 
remainder  of  its  Tibetan  course.  Immediately  below 
this  point  of  junction  it  forms  a rapid  of  tremendous 
force,  its  waters  flowing  so  swiftly  that  even  in  winter 
no  ice  is  able  to  form  upon  them.  It  is  none  the  less  an 
insignificant  stream,  for  lower  down,  just  above  the 
monastery  of  Tachi-Gonpa,  the  Dza-Chu  measures  barely 
thirty  yards  from  bank  to  bank  and  is  less  than  three 


CHRYSE  THE  GOLDEN  337 

feet  deep.  Its  altitude  above  sea-level  at  this  point  is 
14,400  feet. 

Fifty  miles  lower  down  the  Dza-Chu  is  joined  by  a 
torrent  called  the  Pur-Dong-Chu,  and  thence  to  Aten-tze 
the  river  has  only  been  visited  by  French  missionaries ; 
it  seems  probable  that  its  general  trend  is  in  a south- 
easterly direction.  Dutreuil  de  Rhins  followed  its  tribu- 
tary, the  Dze-Chu,  for  a distance  of  between  ninety  and 
a hundred  and  fifteen  miles,  to  its  source  on  the  slopes 
of  a mountain  13,660  feet  in  height  above  sea-level;  his 
way  led  through  dense  forest. 

From  Aten-tze,  in  about  28°  30'  N.  lat.,  to  Fei-long- 
kiao,  in  250  50'  N.,  the  course  of  the  river  was  explored 
by  Prince  Henri  of  Orleans  and  M.  Roux.  It  is  de- 
scribed as  broader  but  very  rapid,  running  through  poor 
country  with  which  the  Chinese  do  little  or  no  trade, 
although  the  region  on  the  left  bank  is  reputed  to  be 
rich  in  minerals.  At  Fei-long-kiao  the  river-bed  is  still 
4,000  feet  above  sea-level.  This  place  is  distant  only 
some  thirty  or  forty  miles  from  Sa-yang  or  Sha-yang, 
near  where  the  river  has  been  crossed  by  several  ex- 
plorers, among  them  the  Pundit  Krishna.  From  Loma, 
again, — situated  some  forty  or  fifty  miles  below  Sa-yang, 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  in  240  45'  N.  lat.,  at  an  alti- 
tude of  3,600  feet  above  sea-level — to  Ti-an-pi — a place 
fifty  miles  from  Chieng  Hong,  in  22°  38'  N.  lat.,  where 
the  river-bed  is  2,550  feet  above  sea-level — Prince  Henri 
has  furnished  us  with  some  account  of  the  river.  In  the 
course  of  this  section  of  his  journey,  the  French  ex- 
plorer struck  the  Mekong  six  times.  On  each  occasion 
the  river  was  found  flowing  through  a deep  and  narrow 


338 


FURTHER  INDIA 


valley,  the  banks  on  either  hand  rising  to  a height  of 
nearly  4,000  feet.  The  current  was  slack,  but  there  were 
numerous  difficult  rapids,  and  the  stream  was  crossed 
by  two  suspension  bridges  and  by  a dozen  ferries  be- 
tween Fei-long-kiao  and  Ti-an-pi,  at  each  of  which  a 
custom-house  was  set  for  the  collection  of  li-kin.  The 
banks  of  the  river  were  uninhabited  and  unexplored  even 
by  the  natives  of  the  country,  and  were  only  touched  by 
the  tracks  leading  to  the  various  ferries  and  bridges. 
The  explorers  published  a map  of  this  portion  of  the 
river,  according  to  which  the  Mekong  flows  from  N.  to 
S.  from  Yerkalo  to  Sa-yang,  with  a slight  inclination 
to  the  S.E.  below  that  point,  until  opposite  Loma  it  is 
nearly  W.  and  E.  This  part  of  the  map,  however,  is 
only  approximately  accurate,  having  been  compiled  from 
information  gathered  from  natives  of  the  valley.  A lit- 
tle below  Loma  the  Mekong  turns  sharply  to  the  south, 
and  at  the  ferry  at  Kali,  in  24°  N.  lat.,  it  is  still  running 
from  N.  to  S.  with  a slight  inclination  towards  the 
S.S.W.  From  Kali  it  flows  S.S.E.  to  Chieng  Hong. 

“ This  section  of  the  Mekong,”  writes  M.  Vivien  St. 
Martin,  “ must  be  considered  not  as  a trade-route  but 
as  a barrier  to  commerce,  since  each  crossing  of  the  river 
necessitates  a descent  and  an  ascent  of  from  3,300  to 
4,400  feet  each.” 

Here,  of  course,  the  river,  flowing  through  Yun-nan,  is 
completely  Chinese,  the  only  alien  element  in  the  region 
being  a few  Pa-i  tribes  living  in  some  of  the  richer  val- 
leys, and  some  Lo-lo,  called  Lo-kai  locally,  dwelling  in 
some  of  the  hills. 


Photo  by  J.  Thomson 


CHRYSE  THE  GOLDEN  339 


Between  Fei-long-kiao  and  Chieng  Hong  the  Mekong 
receives  numerous  tributaries,  the  Pi-kiang  above  Sa- 
yang,  the  Tze-kiang  below ; the  Yang-pi-kung,  which 
falls  in  near  Loma,  and  the  Tong-eul-ho,  which  flows  by 
the  town  of  Pu-cul-fu,  a place  famous  for  its  teas.  All 
these  are  left-bank  tributaries  of  the  river,  and  on  the 
right  are  the  Lau-cho-ho,  which  joins  the  Pe-hsiao  and 
falls  in  below  Loma  opposite  to  Yung-cheu,  the  Nam- 
pi-ho  or  Se-kiang,  and  the  Heu-ho. 

The  Mekong — “ the  Captain  of  all  the  Rivers,”  as 
Linschoten  called  it — stands  revealed  to  us  as  the  third 
or  fourth  longest  river  in  Asia  and  the  seventh  or  eighth 
longest  river  in  the  world,  flowing  from  the  mountains 
of  Tibet,  gathering  to  itself  the  highland  torrents  of  that 
country  and  of  Yun-nan,  running  through  the  Shan 
States  and  Laos,  receiving  at  each  step  the  waters  of 
great  streams,  and  finding  the  sea  at  last  through  the 
mazes  of  its  extensive  delta.  The  length  of  the  river  may 
be  roughly  computed  at  about  2,800  miles,  of  which  some 
1,600  flow  through  French  territory,  and  1,200  through 
portions  of  the  Chinese  empire  and  Tibet.  Its  explora- 
tion, as  we  have  seen,  is  mainly  a French  achievement, 
and  it  is  moreover  a work  which  has  been  accomplished 
during  the  last  fifty  years.  The  first  steps — and  the 
first  steps  are  proverbially  the  most  costly — were  taken 
by  Henri  Mouhot  and  by  de  Lagree  and  Francis  Gamier, 
but  to  the  roll  of  fame  upon  which  these  names  find  so 
high  a place  many  others  must  be  added — names  fre- 
quently mentioned  in  these  pages,  among  which,  perhaps, 
none  have  a better  right  to  be  remembered  than  that  of 


340 


FURTHER  INDIA 


M.  Pavie,  who  still  lives  to  carry  on  his  great  work  of 
revealing  to  Europeans  the  secrets  of  Indo-China. 

The  Menam,  the  great  river  of  Siam,  takes  its  rise  in 
the  mountains  which  form  the  northern  boundaries  of 
that  State.  It  is  no  mystery  to  us,  as  is  still  to  some  ex- 
tent the  Mekong  in  its  uttermost  reaches,  and  of  its  two 
main  branches,  the  Menam  and  the  Me-ping,  enough  has 
already  been  said  incidentally  in  the  chapters  relating  to 
the  exploration  of  Siam.  Similarly  the  rivers  of  the 
Malay  Peninsula,  fine  and  imposing  though  they  be  as 
they  flow  majestically  through  vast  regions  of  forest, 
call  for  no  special  attention.  They  all  have  their  sources 
in  the  main  range  of  mountains  which  forms  the  back- 
bone of  the  Peninsula,  and  though  the  sources  of  the 
streams  on  the  eastern  slope  have  not  yet  been  adequately 
examined,  their  approximate  positions  are  known  with  a 
fair  approach  to  accuracy. 

The  next  river  which  demands  examination  is  the 
Salwin,  which  falls  into  the  Gulf  of  Martaban  near 
Maulmain.  Like  the  Mekong  it  takes  its  rise  in  Tibet, 
but  its  course  is  not  as  thoroughly  known  as  is  that  of 
the  more  easterly  river.  According  to  Pundit  Nain 
Singh,  who  was  sent  on  an  exploring  expedition  by  the 
Indian  Government,  and  to  Prjevalsky,  it  begins  as  the 
Nap-chu  or  Nak-chu,  which  has  two  branches,  the  one 
on  the  west  flowing  through  the  province  of  Gnari,  the 
other  from  the  south  running  through  the  province  of 
Khat-shi.  It  changes  its  name  with  bewildering  fre- 
quency, being  called  the  Nap-chu  or  Nak-chu  in  Tibet, 
the  Khara-Ussu,  the  Om-chu,  Uir-chu,  Ghiama  Nu-chu, 
Ngeu-kio,  Nu-kiang  or  Nu-chu  in  Yun-nan,  and  later 


CHRYSE  THE  GOLDEN 


34i 


the  Lu-kiang  or  Lu-tze-kiang  and  Li-kiang,  and  finally 
the  Salwin ! The  identification  of  the  Lu-tze-kiang  with 
the  Salwin  was  established  by  Desgodins,  who  followed 
the  valley  of  the  river  for  a distance  of  250  miles,  and 
was  also,  as  stated  in  the  previous  chapter,  affirmed  by 
Prince  Henri  of  Orleans,  who  further  pronounced  him- 
self in  favour  of  the  identification  of  the  upper  reaches 
of  the  river  with  the  Oi-chu  of  Tibet.  Sprye  and  other 
Englishmen  surveyed  the  river  from  its  mouth  to  a point 
some  six  hundred  miles  by  river  from  the  coast,  and  the 
portion  of  it  which  flows  through  British  territory  is  now 
familiarly  known.  But  of  its  upper  reaches  no  very 
exact  data  are  forthcoming,  and  it  is  humiliating  to  have 
to  acknowledge  that  the  work  which  Frenchmen  have 
done  for  the  Mekong  has  not  been  accomplished  in  like 
measure  by  Englishmen  for  the  Salwin. 

The  Irawadi  was  supposed  at  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century  to  be  identical  with  the  Lu-kiang  of 
Yun-nan,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  was  subsequently 
proved  to  be  the  upper  portion  of  the  Salwin,  and  in 
1731  D’Anville  promulgated  the  opinion  that  the  Tsang- 
po  of  Tibet  was  the  upper  part  of  the  Irawadi.  Buchanan 
and  Dalrymple  in  1797  added  the  weight  of  their  opinion 
to  this  theory,  and  more  than  fifty  years  later,  when  the 
same  view  was  advanced  by  the  Roman  Catholic  mis- 
sionaries in  Tibet,  it  received  the  qualified  approval  of 
Colonel  Henry  Yule.  The  German  Kalproth  maintained 
this  theory  with  great  insistency,  that  learned  sinologue 
placing  undue  reliance  upon  Chinese  authorities,  but  as 
early  as  1872  it  was  traversed  by  Major  Rennell,  who 
based  his  disagreement  with  the  accepted  view  upon  the 


342 


FURTHER  INDIA 


bulk  of  the  waters  of  the  Brahmaputra,  which,  he  held, 
proved  that  the  river  must  have  its  rise  somewhere  beyond 
the  limits  of  the  mountain  boundaries  of  Assam.  In  1827 
Wilcox,  while  engaged  in  exploring  the  Brahmaputra, 
crossed  the  mountains  to  the  south,  and  located  the 
western  sources  of  the  Irawadi,  striking  the  river  at  a 
point  where  it  was  little  more  than  eight  yards  across. 
He  was  unable  to  visit  the  eastern  branch  of  the  river, 
but  his  statements  as  to  its  source  were  subsequently 
confirmed  by  a planter  named  Lepper,  who  had  obtained 
a considerable  amount  of  native  information  on  the  sub- 
ject. Wilcox’s  opinion,  however,  was  not  immediately 
accepted,  and  in  1879-80  the  Government  of  India  sent 
two  native  pundits  to  seek  the  true  sources  of  the  Ira- 
wadi. These  men  failed  in  their  object,  for  they  did 
not  reach  the  sources,  but  they  brought  back  with  them 
a mass  of  information  collected  from  natives,  all  of  which 
tended  to  confirm  Wilcox’s  opinion  and  to  discredit  that 
of  D’Anville  and  Kalproth.  It  is  now  known  that  the 
Tsang-po  of  Tibet  is  the  upper  part  of  the  Brahmaputra 
and  has  no  connection  with  the  Irawadi.  The  sources 
of  the  Irawadi,  which  like  those  of  the  Salwin  are  still 
far  from  being  adequately  explored,  are  generally  held 
to  be  situated  in  the  eastern  extension  of  the  Himalaya, 
between  Assam  and  the  frontiers  of  China.  The  valley 
of  the  Irawadi  and  those  of  its  principal  tributaries  in 
British  territory  have  now  been  explored  and  surveyed 
with  considerable  accuracy. 

The  mountain  system  of  the  Indo-Chinese  peninsula, 
as  it  is  now  revealed  to  us,  is  found  to  be  an  extension 
of  the  great  Himalaya  range.  On  the  north  this  forms 


L - v >\  ■ y 

5.'  vM 


Valley  ot  the  Upper  Donnai 

From  Courtellement’s  “ Indo-Chine.”  By  permission  of 
M.  M.  Firmin-Didot  & Cie.t  Paris 


CHRYSE  THE  GOLDEN 


343 


the  range  which  separates  Burma  from  Assam  and 
Manipur,  and  extends  southward  in  the  Yoma-Arakan 
range,  which  divides  Burma  from  the  coast  districts  of 
Arakan;  the  Yoma-Pegu  range  to  the  south  of  Mandalay, 
including  the  Karini  hills ; and  the  main  range  of  moun- 
tains which  runs  down  the  centre  of  the  Malay  Penin- 
sula. Eastward  the  extension  of  the  Himalayas  stretches 
away  through  the  highlands  of  Yun-nan,  across  which 
Gamier  and  his  fellows  laboured  and  trudged,  to  the 
Gulf  of  Tongking,  one  great  offshoot  dividing  Tong- 
king  from  the  valley  of  the  Mekong.  There  is  also  an 
isolated  range  which  runs  parallel  to  the  shores  of 
French  Indo-China,  while  an  offshoot  of  the  mountains 
of  the  Malay  Peninsula  forms  the  northern  boundary  of 
Siam.  The  majority  of  these  mountains  average  some 
three  or  four  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  plain, 
running  up  into  peaks  which  in  some  instances  are  as 
much  as  13,000  feet  in  height.  In  the  southern  portion 
of  the  great  peninsula  the  mountains  are  covered  from 
foot  to  crest  by  dense  forest,  but  farther  north  this  is 
exchanged  for  oaks  and  pines,  and  many  of  the  hills  of 
the  far  interior  are  barren  of  vegetation  and  are  strewn 
with  immense  boulders. 

The  old  theory  that  the  rivers  of  Indo-China  had  their 
sources  in  an  immense  lake  has  long  ago  been  discred- 
ited, in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  excellent  Mendez  Pinto 
went  out  of  his  way  to  declare  that  he  had  himself  vis- 
ited this  lake.  The  lakes  of  Yun-nan  and  Tibet  are, 
however,  a remarkable  feature  of  south-eastern  Asia,  and 
those  of  the  latter  province  still  remain  inadequately 
explored.  In  Indo-China  proper  the  great  lake  of  Tonle 


344 


FURTHER  INDIA 


Sap,  near  the  ruins  of  Angkor,  stands  without  a rival. 
According  to  Mr.  J.  S.  Black,  of  the  British  Consular 
Service  in  Siam,  “ this  great  sea  of  fresh  water,  which 
measures  nearly  ioo  miles  in  length  and  20  at  its  great- 
est breadth,  rises  no  less  than  21  feet  during  the  rainy 
season,  and  floods  all  the  adjoining  country  for  miles. 
In  the  dry  season  it  is  not  more  than  4 or  5 feet  deep, 
and  it  is  at  this  time,  during  the  months  of  March,  April, 
and  May,  that  the  surrounding  population  flock  to  its 
shores  to  catch  the  numerous  fish.”  It  is  now  recognised 
that  the  formation  of  the  lake  is  of  comparatively  recent 
date.  Observations  prove  that  the  process  of  silting  all 
along  the  coast  of  Indo-China  has  been  effected  with 
extraordinary  rapidity,  and  that  the  whole  of  the  low- 
lying  coast-lands  to  the  south  of  the  hills  has  been 
formed  within  historical  as  opposed  to  geological  times. 
The  traveller  on  the  Menam  River  can  see,  at  a point 
some  miles  above  the  present  capital  of  Bangkok,  unmis- 
takable signs  of  a river-bar  which  once  existed  at  that 
spot,  where  the  stream  formerly  had  its  outfall  into  the 
sea.  Similarly  the  entire  delta  of  the  Mekong  is  of 
recent  formation,  and  there  is  some  reason  to  believe 
that  Angkor  Thom  itself,  when  first  it  was  founded,  was 
a fort. 

Another  geographical  feature  of  interest  in  these 
regions  is  the  Isthmus  of  Kra,  which  joins  the  Malay 
Peninsula  to  Siam  and  Tenasserim.  The  mountain 
chain  which,  extending  in  a southerly  direction  from 
the  Himalaya,  bisects  the  Malay  Peninsula  through  its 
entire  length,  is  here  broken,  and  the  surveys  made  by 
the  French  Government  in  1883  disclosed  the  fact  that 


Saigon 


CHRYSE  THE  GOLDEN 


345 


the  greatest  elevation  above  sea-level  amounted  to  only 
250  feet.  The  possibility  of  cutting  a canal  across  the 
isthmus  is  therefore  rendered  possible,  but  the  construc- 
tion of  such  a work  would  be  very  costly,  and  it  is 
certainly  altogether  opposed  to  British  interests,  since 
it  would  deal  a severe  blow  to  the  prosperity  of  Singa- 
pore. With  the  British  in  Tenasserim,  therefore,  it  is 
highly  improbable  that  such  a work  will  ever  be  allowed 
to  be  put  in  hand. 

Mention  should  here  be  made  of  yet  another  geograph- 
ical feature  of  Indo-China  which  deserves  attention — the 
great  plateau  which  lies  between  Korat  and  the  valley 
of  the  Mekong.  A full  description  of  this  has  already 
been  given  in  dealing  with  the  journeys  of  Mouhot,  Gar- 
nier  and  others,  but  it  may  here  be  noted  that  this  high 
land,  with  its  abrupt  “ drops  ” into  the  flat  plains  of  the 
coast-regions,  marks,  in  all  probability,  an  ancient  sea- 
board whence  the  waters  have  receded  as  more  and  more 
land  was  won  by  the  action  of  the  rivers. 

Our  task  is  now  completed:  the  tale  is  told,  and 
Chryse  the  Golden  stands  revealed  to  us,  robbed  of  its 
magic  and  its  mystery,  just  a common  fragment  of  the 
earth  upon  which  we  also  tread.  It  has  still  a few,  a 
very  few,  secrets  left  for  discovery  by  the  adventure- 
some— the  actual  sources  of  the  Sal  win  and  the  Irawadi 
among  the  number ; but  for  the  rest  it  has  been  traversed 
again  and  again  by  alien  explorers,  and  a man  must  go 
far  afield  indeed  if  to-day  he  would  break  new  ground. 
The  geographer  has  done  his  work,  and  has  done  the 
most  of  it  in  less  than  a century  of  time ; and  it  remains 


346 


FURTHER  INDIA 


for  the  scientist  and  the  ethnologist — above  all  the  eth- 
nologist— to  complete  the  task.  More  than  this,  Chryse 
is  held  to-day  almost  wholly  by  the  nations  of  the  West : 
by  Great  Britain  and  by  France;  the  welfare  of  its  peo- 
ples are  in  the  keeping  of  strangers,  who  have  already 
done  much  to  bring  peace  and  plenty  to  these  troubled 
lands.  Much  more,  however,  still  awaits  the  doing, 
for  the  white  nations  have  not  yet  discovered  the  secret 
whereby  the  subject  peoples  may  be  preserved  from  the 
action  of  that  swift  degeneracy  which  too  often  follows 
on  the  heels  of  civilisation.  In  the  past  the  East  has 
suffered  much  at  the  hands  of  Europeans,  and  the  bur- 
den of  our  sins  should  press  sorely  upon  us.  The  age 
of  frank  brutality  has  passed  away  for  ever,  and  has 
been  replaced  by  an  age  of  philanthropy  and  humanita- 
rianism.  Of  old,  white  men  wrought  greatly  and  meant 
ill ; now  the  position  is  reversed, — we  work  on  a smaller 
scale  and  with  a host  of  the  best  intentions.  The  future 
alone  can  decide  whether  the  nations  of  Europe,  Eng- 
land, France,  Holland,  and  now  also  the  United  States 
— the  white  peoples  who  have  assumed  the  responsibility 
for  ordering  the  destinies  of  the  East — will  prove  them- 
selves equal  to  the  task  of  making  full  amends  for  all 
the  evil  that  was  done  in  Asia  by  folk  of  their  blood  in 
centuries  which  have  passed  away. 


APPENDIX 


LIST  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  PUBLICATIONS  RELATIVE 
TO  FURTHER  INDIA 

Purchas  his  Pilgrimes.  4 vols.  (Parts.)  Map  and  illustra- 
tions. Folio.  London,  1625. 

Pinto,  Fernand  Mendez.  The  Voyages  and  Adventures  of 
Fernand  Mendez  Pinto,  a Portugal,  during  his  Travels  for 
the  spaces  of  one  and  twenty  years  in  the  Kingdoms  of 
Ethiopia,  China,  Tartaria,  Cauchin-China,  Calaminham,  Siam, 
Pegu,  Japan,  and  a great  part  of  the  East-Indaes.  4to.  Lon- 
don, 1653. 

Voyage  de  Siam,  des  Peres  Jesuites;  avec  leurs  observations 
Astronomiques,  et  leurs  remarques  de  Physique,  de  Geo- 
graphic, d’Hydrographie,  et  d’Histoire.  Plates.  Sm.  4to. 
Paris,  1686. 

Dampier,  Capt.  William.  A New  Voyage  round  the  World, 
describing  particularly  the  Isthmus  of  America.  Maps.  8vo. 
London,  1697. 

Harris,  John.  Navigantium  atque  Itinerantium  Bibliotheca;  or, 
a Complete  Collection  of  Voyages  and  Travels.  2 vols. 
Maps,  portraits  and  plates.  Folio.  London,  1705. 

Renneville,  R.  A.  Constantin  de.  Recueil  des  Voyages  qui  ont 
servi  a l’Establissement  et  aux  Progrez  de  la  Compagnie  des 
Indes  Orientales,  formee  dans  les  Provinces-Unies  des  Pais- 
Bas.  Nouvelle  edition.  10  vols.  Plates.  i2mo.  Rouen, 

1725. 

Hamilton,  Capt.  Alexander.  A new  Account  of  the  East  In- 
dies. 2 vols.  Maps  and  plates.  8vo.  Edinburgh,  1727. 

347 


348  APPENDIX 

Astley,  Thomas.  New  General  Collection  of  Voyages  and 
Travels.  4 vols.  Maps  and  plates.  4to.  London,  1745-47. 

A General  Collection  of  Voyages  and  Discoveries  made  by 
the  Portuguese  and  the  Spaniards  during  the  Fifteenth 
and  Sixteenth  Centuries.  Map  and  plates.  4to.  London, 
1789. 

Symes,  Major  M.  Account  of  an  Embassy  to  the  Kingdom  of 
Ava  in  1795.  Maps  and  plates.  4to.  London,  1800. 

Pinkerton,  John.  A General  Collection  of  the  best  and  most 
interesting  Voyages  and  Travels  in  all  Parts  of  the  World. 
17  vols.  Maps  and  plates.  4to.  London,  1808-14. 

Fitch,  Ralph,  the  long,  dangerous,  and  memorable  Voyage  of, 
by  the  way  of  Tripolis  in  Syria,  to  Ormuz,  Goa  in  the  East 
Indies,  Cambaia,  the  River  Ganges,  Bengala,  Bacola,  Chon- 
deri,  Pegu,  Siam,  etc.,  begunne  in  1583  and  ended  in  1591. 
(Hakluyt,  R.,  “The  Principal  Navigations,”  etc.,  Vol.  2.) 
London,  1809. 

Frederick,  Cesar.  Voyage  of  Master  Cesar  Frederick  into  the 
East  India  and  beyond  the  Indies,  1563.  (Hakluyt,  R., 
“The  Principal  Navigations,  etc.,  Vol.  2.)  London,  1809. 

Laharpe,  J.  F.  Abrege  de  l'Histoire  Generate  des  Voyages. 
24  vols.  8vo.  Paris,  1816. 

Cox,  Capt.  H.  Journal  of  a Residence  in  the  Burmhan  Empire, 
and  more  particularly  at  the  Court  of  Amarapoorah.  Plates. 
8vo.  London,  1821. 

Finlayson,  G.  The  Mission  to  Siam,  and  Hue,  the  Capital  of 
Cochin-China,  in  1821-22.  From  the  Journal  of  the  late  G. 
Finlayson ; with  a Memoir  of  the  Author  by  Sir  T.  Stam- 
ford Raffles.  Plate.  8vo.  London,  1826. 

Crawfurd,  John.  Journal  of  an  Embassy  from  the  Governor- 
General  of  India  to  the  Court  of  Ava  in  1827;  with  an  Ap- 
pendix containing  a Description  of  Fossil  Remains,  by  Pro- 
fessor Buckland  and  Mr.  Clift.  Map  and  plates.  4to.  Lon- 
don, 1829. 


APPENDIX 


349 


Ibn  Batuta,  The  Travels  of,  in  Asia  and  Africa,  1324-25. 
Translated  from  the  abridged  Arabic  MS.  copies  preserved 
in  the  Public  Library  of  Cambridge;  with  Notes  illustrative 
of  the  History,  Geography,  Botany,  Antiquities,  etc.,  oc- 
curring throughout  the  work.  By  the  Rev.  S.  Lee.  4to. 
London,  1829. 

R£musat,  J.  P.  Abel.  Nouveaux  Melanges  Asiatiques,  ou  Re- 
. cueil  de  Morceaux  de  Critiques  et  de  Memoires  relatifs  aux 
Religions,  aux  Sciences,  aux  Coutumes,  a l’Histoire  et  a la 
Geographic  des  Nations  Orientales.  2 vols.  Map.  8vo. 
Paris,  1829. 

Lives  and  Voyages  of  Drake,  Cavendish,  and  Dampier;  includ- 
ing an  Introductory  View  of  earlier  Discoveries  in  the  South 
Sea,  and  the  History  of  the  Buccaneers.  Portraits.  i6mo. 
Edinburgh,  1831. 

Wilcox,  Lieut.  R.  Memoir  of  a Survey  of  Assam  and  the 
Neighbouring  Countries,  executed  in  1825-6-7-S.  Map.  4to. 
Calcutta,  1832. 

Richardson,  Dr.  D.  Journal  of  a March  from  Ava  to  Kendat, 
on  the  Khyen  dwen  River,  performed  in  1831  under  the 
orders  of  Major  H.  Burney,  the  Resident  at  Ava.  (Journal 
of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal,  Vol.  2,  p.  59.)  8vo.  Cal- 
cutta, 1833. 

Sangermano,  Rev.  Father.  Description  of  the  Burmese  Em- 
pire, compiled  chiefly  from  Native  Documents;  translated 
from  the  MS.  by  W.  Tandy.  (Oriental  Translation  Fund.) 
4to.  1833. 

Grant,  Capt.  F.  T.  Extract  from  a Journal  kept  by  Captain  F. 
T.  Grant,  of  the  Manipur  Levy,  during  a Tour  of  Inspection 
of  the  Manipur  Frontier,  along  the  course  of  the  Ningthee 
River,  etc.,  in  January,  1832.  (Journal  of  the  Asiatic  So- 
ciety of  Bengal,  Vol.  3,  p.  124.)  8vo.  Calcutta,  1834. 

Burney,  Lt.-Col.  H.  Notice  of  Pugan,  the  Ancient  Capital  of 


35° 


APPENDIX 


the  Burmese  Empire.  (Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of 
Bengal,  Vol.  4,  p.  400.)  8vo.  Calcutta,  1835. 

Pemberton,  Capt.  R.  Boileau.  Report  on  the  Eastern  Frontier 
of  British  India;  with  an  Appendix;  and  a Supplement  by 
Dr.  Bayfield  on  the  British  Political  Relations  with  Ava. 
Maps.  8vo.  Calcutta,  1835. 

Richardson,  Dr.  D.  An  account  of  some  of  the  Petty  States 
lying  north  of  the  Tenasserim  Provinces;  drawn  up  from  the 
Journals  and  Reports  of  D.  Richardson.  By  E.  A.  Blundell. 
(Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal,  Vol.  5,  1836,  pp. 
601-625,  688-707.)  Map  and  plate.  8vo.  Calcutta. 
Burney,  Lt.-Col.  H.  Some  Account  of  the  Wars  between  Bur- 
mah  and  China,  together  with'  the  Journals  and  Routes  of 
three  different  Embassies  sent  to  Pekin  by  the  King  of  Ava ; 
taken  from  Burmese  documents.  (Journal  of  the  Asiatic 
Society  of  Bengal,  Vol.  6,  pp.  121,  405,  542.)  8vo.  Calcutta, 

1837. 

McLeod,  Capt.  T.  E.  Abstract  Journal  of  an  Expedition  to 
Kiang  Hung  on  the  Chinese  Frontier,  starting  from  Moul- 
mein  on  the  13th  December,  1836.  (Journal  of  the  Asiatic 
Society  of  Bengal,  Vol.  6,  p.  989.)  8vo.  Calcutta,  1837. 
Hannay,  Capt.  S.  F.  Abstract  of  the  Journal  of  a Route 
travelled  by  Capt.  S.  F.  Hannay,  of  the  40th  Regiment 
Native  Infantry,  from  the  Capital  of  Ava  to  the  Amber 
Mines  of  the  Hukong  Valley  on  the  south-east  frontier  of 
Assam.  By  Capt.  R.  Boileau  Pemberton.  (Journal  of  the 
Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal,  Vol.  6,  p.  245.)  8vo.  Calcutta, 

1837- 

Richardson,  Dr.  D.  Abstract  Journal  of  an  expedition  from 
Moulmein  to  Ava  through  the  Kareen  country,  between  De- 
cember, 1836,  and  June,  1837.  (Journal  of  the  Asiatic  So- 
ciety of  Bengal,  Vol.  6,  1837,  pp.  1005-1022.)  8vo.  Calcutta, 
Malcolm,  Rev.  H.  Travels  in  South-Eastern  Asia,  embracing 


APPENDIX 


35i 


Hindustan,  Malaya,  Siam,  and  China;  with  Notices  of 
numerous  Missionary  Stations,  and  a full  account  of  the 
Burman  Empire.  2 vols.  Map.  8vo.  London,  1839. 
Newbold,  Capt.  T.  J.  Political  and  Statistical  Account  of  the 
British  Settlements  in  the  Straits  of  Malacca,  viz. : Pinang, 
Malacca,  and  Singapore;  with  a History  of  the  Malayan 
States  of  the  Peninsula  of  Malacca.  2 vols.  Maps.  8vo. 
London,  1839. 

Richardson,  Dr.  D.  Journal  of  a Mission  from  the  Supreme 
Government  of  India  to  the  Court  of  Siam.  (Journal  of  the 
Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal,  Vol.  8,  p.  1016;  9,  pp.  i,  219.)  8vo. 
Calcutta,  1839-1840. 

Lafond  de  Lurcy,  Capt.  G.  Voyages  autour  du  Monde,  et  Nau- 
frages  celebres.  8 vols.  Portrait  and  plates.  Rl.  8vo. 
Paris,  1844. 

Wood,  B.  Extracts  from  a Report  of  a Journey  into  the  Naga 
Hills  in  1844.  (Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal, 
Vol.  13,  p.  771.)  8vo.  Calcutta,  1844. 

Reinaud,  J.  T.  Relation  des  Voyages  faits  par  les  Arabes  et 
les  Persans  dans  l’lnde  et  a la  Chine  dans  le  9e  Siecle. 
2 vols.  i6mo.  Paris,  1845. 

Aboulfeda,  Geographie  de.  Traduite  de  l’Arabe  . . . par 
M.  Reinaud.  Vol.  1,  and  Vol.  2,  Part  1.  2 vols.  Maps. 
4to.  Paris,  1848. 

Ditto.  Tome  2.  Seconde  partie.  4to.  Paris,  1883. 

Logan,  J.  R.  Sketch  of  the  Physical  Geography  and  Geology 
of  the  Malay  Peninsula.  (Journal  Indian  Archipelago,  Vol. 
2,  pp.  83-138.)  8vo.  Singapore,  1848. 

Logan,  J.  R.  Journal  of  a Voyage  to  the  Eastern  Coast  and 
Islands  of  Johore.  (Journal  Indian  Archipelago,  Vol.  2,  pp. 
616-624.)  8vo.  Singapore,  1848. 

Favre,  Rev.  P.  A Journey  in  Johore.  (Journal  Indian  Archi- 
pelago, Vol.  3,  pp.  50-64.)  8vo.  Singapore,  1849. 


352 


APPENDIX 


Favre,  Rev.  P.  A Journey  in  the  Menangkabau  States  of  the 
Malay  Peninsula.  (Journal  Indian  Archipelago,  Vol.  3,  pp. 
iS3-i6i.)  8vo.  Singapore,  1849. 

O’Riley,  E.  Rough  Notes  on  the  Geological  and  Geographical 
Characteristics  of  the  Tenasserim  Provinces.  (Journal  In- 
dian Archipelago,  Vol.  3,  pp.  385-401.)  8vo.  Singapore, 

1849. 

O’Riley,  E.  Notes  on  the  Tract  of  Country  lying  between  the 
head  of  the  Zimmi  River  and  the  Source  of  the  Kaundran, 
adjacent  to  the  Siamese  border  Province  of  Ryout  Raung. 
(Journal  Indian  Archipelago,  Vol.  4,  pp.  164-168.)  8vo. 
Singapore,  1850. 

Neale,  F.  A.  Narrative  of  a Residence  at  the  Capital  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Siam,  with  a Description  of  the  Manners,  Cus- 
toms, and  Laws  of  the  Modern  Siamese.  Map  and  illustra- 
tions. London,  1852. 

Earl,  G.  W.  Contributions  to  the  Physical  Geography  of  South- 
eastern Asia  and  Australia.  (Journal  Indian  Archipelago, 
Vol.  6,  pp.  243-277;  N.  S.,  Vol.  2,  pp.  278-286.)  Maps.  8vo. 
Singapore,  1852,  1858. 

Drake,  Sir  Francis.  The  World  Encompassed;  being  his  next 
Voyage  to  that  to  Nombre  de  Dios.  Collated  with  an  un- 
published Manuscript  of  Francis  Fletcher,  with  Appendices 
illustrative  of  the  same  Voyage,  and  Introduction,  by  W.  S. 
W.  Vaux.  (Hakluyt  Society’s  publications,  Vol.  16.)  8vo. 
London,  1854. 

Pallegoix,  Mgr.  Description  du  Royaume  Thai  ou  Siam,  com- 
prenant  la  Topographie,  Histoire  Naturelle,  Moeurs  et  Cou- 
tumes,  Legislation,  Langue,  etc.  2 vols.  Map  and  plates. 
i2mo.  Ligny,  1854. 

Crawfurd,  J.  A.  Descriptive  Dictionary  of  the  Indian  Islands 
and  adjacent  Countries.  Map.  8vo.  London,  1856. 

Parkes,  H.  Geographical  Notes  on  Siam,  with  a New  Map  of 


APPENDIX 


353 


the  Lower  Part  of  the  Menam  River.  (Journal  of  the  Royal 
Geographical  Society,  Vol.  26,  1856,  pp.  71-78,  map.)  8vo. 
London. 

Smith,  Dr.  William.  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Geogra- 
phy. 2 vols.  Wood  cuts.  8vo.  London,  1856-7. 

Yule,  Col.  Sir  Henry.  Narrative  of  Major  Phayre’s  Mission 
to  the  Court  of  Ava;  with  Notices  of  the  Country,  Govern- 
ment, and  People;  and  Notes  on  the  Geological  Features  of 
the  Banks  of  the  River  Irawadee,  and  of  the  Country  north 
of  the  City  of  Amarapoora,  by  Thomas  Oldham.  Maps  and 
plates.  4to.  Calcutta,  1856. 

Bowring,  Sir  J.  The  Kingdom  and  People  of  Siam,  with  a 
Narrative  of  the  Mission  to  that  country  in  1855.  Map,  fac- 
similes, and  plates.  2 vols.  8vo.  London,  1857. 

India  in  the  Fifteenth  Century;  being  a Collection  of  Narra- 
tives of  Voyages  to  India  in  the  Century  preceding  the 
Portuguese  Discovery  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  from 
Latin,  Persian,  Russian,  and  Italian  sources,  translated  into 
English.  Edited,  with  an  Introduction,  by  R.  H.  Major. 
(Hakluyt  Society’s  publications,  Vol.  22.)  8vo.  London, 
1857.  Contains,  among  other  matters,  Nicolo  Conti’s 
“Travels  in  the  East,  in  the  early  part  of  the  Fifteenth 
Century.” 

Yule,  Capt.  H.  On  the  Geography  of  Burma  and  Its  Tributary 
States,  in  illustration  of  a New  Map  of  those  Regions.  (Jour- 
nal of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  Vol.  27,  pp.  54-108.) 
Map.  8vo.  London,  1857. 

Yule,  Col.  Sir  H.  Narrative  of  the  Mission  sent  by  the  Gov- 
ernor-General of  India  to  the  Court  of  Ava  in  1855 ; with 
Notices  of  the  Country,  Government,  and  People.  Maps  and 
plates.  4to.  London,  1858. 

O’Riley,  E.  Journal  of  a Tour  to  Karen  Nee  for  the  purpose 
of  opening  a trading-road  to  the  Shan  Traders  from  Mobyay 


354 


APPENDIX 


and  the  adjacent  Shan  Territory  direct  to  Toungoo.  (Jour- 
nal of  the  Indian  Archipelago,  N.  S.,  Vol.  2,  pp.  391-457.) 
8vo.  Singapore,  1858.  (Also  Journal  of  the  Royal  Geo- 
graphical Society,  Vol.  32,  pp.  164-216.)  Notes.  Map. 
8vo.  London,  1862. 

Tickell,  Lieut.-Col.  S.  R.  Itinerary,  with  Memoranda,  chiefly 
Topographical  and  Zoological,  through  the  southerly  por- 
tions of  the  district  of  Amherst,  province  of  Tenasserim. 
(Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal,  Vol.  28,  p.  421.) 
8vo.  Calcutta,  1859. 

Campbell,  James.  Notes  on  the  Antiquities,  Natural  History, 
etc.,  etc.,  of  Cambodia,  compiled  from  Manuscripts  of  the  late 
E.  F.  J.  Forrest,  and  from  information  derived  from  the 
Rev.  Dr.  House,  etc.,  etc.  (Journal  of  the  Royal  Geographical 
Society,  Vol.  30,  i860,  pp.  182-198.)  8vo.  London. 

King,  D.  O.  Travels  in  Siam  and  Cambodia.  (Journal  of  the 
Royal  Geographical  Society,  Vol.  30,  i860,  pp.  177-182,  map.) 
8vo.  London. 

Des  Mazures,  Very  Rev.  Thomine.  Memorandum  on  the 
Countries  between  Thibet,  Yunan,  and  Burmah.  With  Notes 
and  a Comment  by  Lieut.-Col.  H.  Yule.  (Journal  of  the 
Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal,  Vol.  30,  p.  367.)  8vo.  Calcutta, 
1861. 

Schomburgk,  Sir  R.  H.  Boat  Excursion  from  Bangkok,  in  Siam, 
to  the  Pechaburri,  on  the  Western  Shore  of  the  Gulf  of  Siam. 
(Journal  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  Vol.  31,  pp.  302- 
321.)  8vo.  London,  1861. 

Sprye,  Capt.  R.,  and  R.  H.  F.  Sprye  Communication  with  the 
South-West  Provinces  of  China  from  Rangoon  in  British 
Pegu.  (Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  Vol. 
5.  PP-  45-47.)  Map.  8vo.  London,  1861. 

Schomburgk,  Sir  R.  H.  Travels  in  Siam.  (Proceedings  of  the 
Royal  Geographical  Society,  Vol.  5,  pp.  118-119.)  8vo.  Lon- 
don, 1861. 


APPENDIX 


355 


Mouhot,  H.  Notes  on  Cambodia,  the  Lao  Country,  etc.  (Jour- 
nal of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  Vol.  32,  pp.  142-163.) 
Map.  8vo.  London,  1862. 

The  Travels  of  Ludovica  di  Varthema  in  Egypt,  Syria, 
Arabia  Deserta  and  Arabia  Felix,  in  Persia,  India,  and 
Ethiopia,  1503  to  1508.  Translated  from  the  Italian  edition 
of  1510,  with  a Preface  by  J.  Winter  Jones,  and  edited,  with 
Notes  and  an  Introduction,  by  G.  Percy  Badger.  (Hakluyt 
Society’s  publications,  Vol.  32.)  Map.  8vo.  London,  1863. 

Schomburgh,  Sir  R.  H.  A visit  to  Xiengmai,  the  principal  city 
of  the  Laos  or  Shan  States.  (Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society 
of  Bengal,  Vol.  32,  p.  387.)  8vo.  Calcutta,  1863. 

Stevenson,  Capt.  J.  F.  Account  of  a visit  to  the  Hot  Springs 
of  Pai  in  the  Tavoy  District.  (Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society 
of  Bengal,  Vol.  32,  p.  383.)  8vo.  Calcutta,  1863. 

Mouhot,  H.  Travels  in  the  Central  Parts  of  Indo-China 
(Siam),  Cambodia,  and  Laos  during  1858-60.  2 vols.  Map 
and  plates.  8vo.  London,  1864. 

Williams,  Dr.  C.  Extract  from  Journal  of  a Trip  to  Bhamo. 
(Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal,  Vol.  33,  p.  189.) 
8vo.  Calcutta,  1864. 

Williams,  Dr.  C.  Memorandum  on  the  Question  of  British 
Trade  with  Western  China  via  Burmah.  (Journal  of  the 
Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal,  Vol.  33,  p.  407.)  8vo.  Calcutta, 
1864. 

Bastian,  Dr.  A.  A visit  to  the  Ruined  Cities  and  Buildings  of 
Cambodia.  (Journal  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  Vol. 
35)  PP-  74-87-)  Map.  8vo.  London,  1865. 

Parish,  Rev.  C.  Notes  of  a Trip  up  the  Salween.  (Journal  of 
the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal,  Vol*  34,  pt.  II,  135.)  8vo. 
Calcutta,  1865. 

Williams,  J.  M.  Memorandum  on  Railway  Communication 
with  Western  China  and  the  intermediate  Shan  States  from 


356 


APPENDIX 


the  Port  of  Rangoon  in  British  Burma.  Map.  Folio.  Lon- 
don, 1865. 

A Description  of  the  Coasts  of  East  Africa  and  Malabar  in 
the  beginning  of  the  Sixteenth  Century,  by  Duarte 
Barbosa,  a Portuguese.  Translated  from  an  early  Spanish 
Manuscript  in  the  Barcelona  Library,  with  Notes  and  a 
Preface,  by  the  Hon.  Henry  E.  J.  Stanley.  (Hakluyt  So- 
ciety’s publications,  Vol.  35.)  8vo.  London,  1866. 

Cathay  and  the  Way  Thither;  being  a Collection  of  Medieval 
Notices  of  China.  Translated  and  edited  by  Col.  H.  Yule 
. . . with  Essay  on  the  Intercourse  between  China  and 
the  West  previous  to  the  Discovery  of  the  Cape  Route. 
(Hakluyt  Society’s  publications,  Vols.  36  and  37.)  2 vols. 
8vo.  London,  1866. 

Kennedy,  H.  G.  Report  of  an  Expedition  made  into  Southern 
Laos  and  Cambodia  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1866. 
(Journal  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  Vol.  37,  pp.  298- 
327.)  Map.  8vo.  London,  1867. 

Thomson,  John.  The  Antiquities  of  Cambodia:  a series  of 
Photographs  taken  on  the  spot,  with  Letterpress  descrip- 
tion. Oblong  4to.  Edinburgh,  1867. 

Williams,  J.  M.,  and  C.  H.  Luard.  Copies  of  the  Survey  Re- 
port, dated  the  15th  June,  1867,  and  of  the  Journals,  Maps, 
Sections,  etc.,  attached  thereto,  respecting  Rangoon  and 
Western  China,  etc.  Folio.  London,  1867. 

The  Philippine  Islands,  Moluccas,  Siam,  Cambodia,  Japan, 
and  China,  at  the  Close  of  the  Sixteenth  Century,  by 
Antonio  de  Morga.  Translated  from  the  Spanish,  with 
Notes  and  a Preface,  and  a Letter  from  Luis  Vaez  de  Torres 
describing  his  Voyage  through  the  Torres  Straits,  by  the 
Hon.  Henry  E.  J.  Stanley.  (Hakluyt  Society’s  publications, 
Vol.  39.)  Maps  and  plate.  8vo.  London,  1868. 

Pundit  . Report  of  a Route-Survey  made  by  Pundit  , 


APPENDIX 


357 


from  Nepal  to  Lhasa,  and  thence  through  the  Upper  Valley 
of  the  Brahmaputra  to  its  Source.  By  Capt.  T.  G.  Mont- 
gomerie. (Journal  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  Vol. 
38,  pp.  129-219.)  Map.  8vo.  London,  1868. 

Williams,  Clement.  Through  Burmah  to  Western  China;  be- 
ing Notes  of  a Journey  in  1863  to  establish  the  practica- 
bility of  a Trade-Route  between  the  Irawaddi  and  the  Yang- 
tse-Kiang.  Map  and  plates.  8vo.  London,  1868. 

Cooper,  T.  T.  Letter  from,  on  the  Course  of  the  Tsan-po  and 
Irrawaddy  and  on  Tibet.  (Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Geo- 
graphical Society,  Vol.  13,  pp.  392-393.)  Map.  8vo.  London, 
1869. 

Jenkins,  H.  L.  Notes  on  the  Burmese  Route  from  Assam  to 
the  Hookoong  Valley.  (Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Geograph- 
ical Society,  Vol.  13,  pp.  244-248.)  8vo.  London,  1869. 

Macleod,  W.  C.,  and  Richardson,  Dr.  D.  Copy  of  Papers  relat- 
ing to  the  Route  of  Capt.  W.  C.  Macleod  from  Moulmein 
to  the  Frontiers  of  China,  and  to  the  Route  of  Dr.  Richard- 
son on  his  Fourth  Mission  to  the  Shan  Provinces  of  Burmah, 
or  Extracts  from  the  same.  Map.  Folio.  London,  1869. 

Direct  Commerce  with  the  Shan  States  and  West  of  China, 
by  Railway  from  Rangoon  to  Kian-Hung,  on  the  Upper 
Kamboja  River,  on  the  South-West  Frontier  of  China. 
Memorial  from  the  Wakefield  Chamber  of  Commerce  to  the 
Lords  of  Her  Majesty’s  Treasury.  8vo.  London,  1869. 

The  Three  Voyages  of  Vasco  da  Gama  and  his  Vice- 
royalty, from  the  Lendas  da  India  of  Gaspar  Correa.  . . . 
Translated  from  the  Portuguese,  with  Notes  and  an  Intro- 
duction, by  the  Hon.  Henry  E.  J.  Stanley.  (Hakluyt  So- 
ciety’s publications,  Vol.  42.)  Portrait,  plate,  etc.  8vo. 
London,  1869. 

Anderson,  Dr.  J.  The  Irawady  and  its  Sources.  (Journal 
of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  Vol.  40,  pp.  286-303.)  8vo. 
London,  1870. 


358  APPENDIX 

Anderson,  John.  A Report  on  the  Expedition  to  Western 
Yunan  via  Bhamo.  Royal  8vo.  Calcutta,  1871. 

Cooper,  T.  T.  Travels  of  a Pioneer  of  Commerce  in  Pigtail  and 
Petticoats;  or  An  Overland  Journey  from  China  towards 
India.  Map  and  plate.  8vo.  London,  1871. 

Garnier,  F.  Voyage  lointain  aux  Royaumes  de  Cambodge  et 
Laouwen  par  les  Neerlandais  et  ce  qui  s’y  est  passe  jusqu’en 
1644.  (Bulletin  de  la  Societe  de  Geographic,  Paris,  1871(2), 
pp.  249-289.)  8vo.  Map. 

Marco  Polo.  The  Book  of  Ser  Marco  Polo,  the  Venetian,  con- 
cerning the  Kingdoms  and  Marvels  of  the  East.  Newly 
translated  and  edited,  with  Notes,  etc.,  by  Colonel  Henry 
Yule.  2 vols.  Maps  and  plates.  8vo.  London,  1871. 

• Ditto.  Third  edition,  revised  throughout  in  the  light  of 

recent  discoveries,  by  Henri  Cordier  (of  Paris).  With  a 
Memoir  of  Henry  Yule  by  his  daughter,  Amy  Frances  Yule. 
2 vols.  London,  1903. 

Sladen,  Sir  E.  B.  Copy  of  Major  Sladen’s  Report  on  the 
Bhamo  Route : Official  Narrative  of  the  Expedition  to  ex- 

plore the  Trade  Routes  to  China  via  Bhamo,  under  the 
guidance  of  Major  E.  B.  Sladen,  Political  Agent,  Mandalay; 
with  connected  papers.  Map.  (Parliamentary  Report.) 
Folio.  London,  1871. 

Sladen,  Major  E.  B.  Expedition  from  Burma,  via  the  Irra- 
waddy and  Bhamo,  to  South-Western  China.  (Journal 
of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  Vol.  41,  pp.  257-281.) 
Map.  8vo.  London,  1871. 

Peal,  S.  E.  Notes  on  a Visit  to  the  Tribes  inhabiting  the  Hills 
South  of  Sibsagar,  Assam.  (Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society 
of  Bengal,  Vol.  41,  pt.  i,  9.)  8vo.  Calcutta,  1872. 

Bayfield,  G.  T.  Narrative  of  a Journey  from  Ava  to  the  Fron- 
tiers of  Assam,  and  back,  performed  between  December,  1836, 
and  May,  1837.  (Selections  of  Papers  regarding  the  Hill 


APPENDIX  359 

Tracts  between  Assam  and  Burmah,  and  on  the  Upper 
Brahmaputra,  Vol.  5.)  Large  8vo.  Calcutta,  1873. 

Cooper,  T.  T.  The  Mishmee  Hills:  An  Account  of  a Journey 
made  in  an  Attempt  to  Penetrate  Thibet  from  Assam  to 
open  new  routes  for  Commerce.  Map  and  plates.  i2mo. 
London,  1873. 

Garnier,  F.  Voyage  d’Exploration  en  Indo-Chine,  effectue 
pendant  les  annees  1866,  1867,  et  1868,  etc.  2 vols.  Maps 
and  plates,  and  Atlas  folio.  4to.  Paris,  1873. 

Griffith,  W.  Journey  from  Upper  Assam  towards  Hookhoom, 
Ava,  and  Rangoon.  (Selections  of  Papers  regarding  the 
Hill  Tracts  between  Assam  and  Burmah,  and  on  the  Upper 
Brahmaputra,  Vol.  4.)  Large  8vo.  Calcutta,  1873. 

Jenkins,  H.  L.  Notes  on  a Trip  across  the  Patkoi  Range  from 
Assam  to  the  Hookoong  Valley,  in  1869-70.  (Selections  of 
Papers  regarding  the  Hill  Tracts  between  Assam  and  Bur- 
mah, etc.,  Vol.  6.)  Large  8vo.  Calcutta,  1873. 

Jenkins,  H.  L.  Notes  on  the  Burmese  Route  from  Assam  to 
Hookoong  Valley.  (Selections  of  Papers  regarding  the  Hill 
Tracts  between  Assam  and  Burmah,  etc.,  Vol.  7.)  Large 
8vo.  Map.  Calcutta,  1873. 

Selections  of  Papers  regarding  the  Hill  Tracts  between  As- 
sam and  Burmah,  and  on  the  Upper  Brahmaputra. 
Large  8vo.  Calcutta,  1873. 

The  First  Voyage  Round  the  World,  by  Magellan.  Translated 
from  the  Accounts  of  Pigafetta  and  other  contemporary 
writers,  accompanied  by  Original  Documents,  with'  Notes 
and  an  Introduction,  by  Lord  Stanley  of  Alderley.  (Hak- 
luyt Society’s  publications,  Vol.  52.)  Portrait,  map,  etc. 
8vo.  London,  1874. 

McMahon,  Lieut.-Col.  A.  P.  On  Our  Prospects  of  Opening 
a Route  to  South-Western  China,  and  Explorations  of  the 
French  in  Tonquin  and  Cambodia.  (Proceedings  of  the 


3 6° 


APPENDIX 


Royal  Geographical  Society,  Vol.  18,  pp.  463-467.)  8vo. 
London,  1874. 

The  Commentaries  of  the  Great  Afonso  Dalboquerque,  Sec- 
ond Viceroy  of  India.  Translated  from  the  Portuguese 
edition  of  1774,  with  Notes  and  an  Introduction,  by  Walter 
de  Gray  Birch.  4 vols.  (Hakluyt  Society’s  publications, 
Vols.  53,  55,  62,  69.)  Maps  and  plates.  8vo.  London,  1875, 
1877,  1880,  1884. 

Coryton,  J.  Trade  Routes  between  British  Burmah  and  Western 
China.  (Journal  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  Vol.  45, 
pp.  229-249.)  Map.  8vo.  London,  1875. 

Margary,  A.  R.  Extracts  of  Letters  from  Mr.  Margary.  (Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  Vol.  19,  pp.  288- 
291.)  8vo.  London,  1875. 

Thomson,  John.  The  Straits  of  Malacca,  Indo-China,  and 
China;  or,  Ten  Years’  Travels,  Adventures,  and  Residence 
abroad.  Plates.  8vo.  London,  1875. 

Anderson,  John.  Mandalay  to  Momein:  A Narrative  of  the 

Two  Expeditions  to  Western  China  of  1868  and  1875,  under 
Colonel  Edward  B.  Sladen  and  Colonel  Horace  Browne. 
Maps  and  plans.  8vo.  London,  1876. 

Desgodins,  l’Abbe.  Le  cours  superieur  des  fleuves  de  l’lndo- 
Chine.  (Bulletin  Societe  de  Geographic  (6  S.),  T.  12,  pp. 
202-205.)  8vo.  Paris,  1876. 

Desgodins,  l’Abbe.  Pays  frontieres  du  Thibet,  de  la  Birmanie 
et  du  Yun-nan.  (Bulletin  Societe  de  Geographic  (6  S.),  T. 
12,  pp.  401-412.)  8vo.  Paris,  1876. 

Desgodins,  l'Abbe.  Notes  geologiques  sur  la  route  de  Yerkato 
a Pa-tang.  (Bulletin  Societe  de  Geographic  (6  S.),  T.  12, 
pp.  492-508.)  8vo.  Paris,  1876. 

Harmand,  Dr.  Voyage  au  Cambodge.  (Bulletin  Societe 

de  Geographic  (6  S.),  T.  12,  pp.  337-367-)  Map.  8vo. 
Paris,  1876. 


APPENDIX 


36 1 


Margary,  A.  R.  The  Journey  of,  from  Shanghai  to  Bhamo,  and 
back  to  Manwyne  . . . with  Concluding  Chapter  by  Sir 
Rutherford  Alcock.  Map  and  portrait.  8vo.  London,  1876. 

Margary,  A.  R.  Extracts  from  the  Diary  of  the  late  Mr.  Mar- 
gary, from  Hankow  to  Tali-fu  [and  Extracts  from  his  sub- 
sequent Letters],  (Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Geographical 
Society,  Vol.  20,  pp.  184-215.)  8vo.  London,  1876. 

Papers  connected  with  the  Development  of  Trade  between 
British  Burmah  and  Western  China,  and  with  the  Mis- 
sion to  Yunnan  of  1874-75.  Folio.  London,  1876. 

Desgodins,  l’Abb£.  Territoire  de  Bathang.  Notes.  (Bulletin 
Societe  de  Geographic  (6  S.),  T.  12,  pp.  614-625.)  8vo, 
Paris,  1876. 

Cottam,  H.  Overland  Route  to  China,  via  Assam,  Tenga  Pani 
River,  Khamti,  and  Singphoo  Country,  across  the  Irrawaddi 
River  into  Yunan.  (Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Geographical 
Society,  Vol.  21,  pp.  590-595.)  8vo.  London,  1877. 

Dupuis,  J.  Voyage  au  Yun-nan.  (Bulletin  Societe  de  Geog- 
raphic (6  S.),  T.  14,  pp.  5-57,  151-185,  map.)  8vo.  Paris, 

1877. 

Harmand,  Dr.  J.  Les  iles  re  Poulo-Condor,  le  haut  Don-na'i 
et  ses  habitants.  Rapport  adresse  au  president  de  la  So- 
ciete. (Bulletin  Societe  de  Geographic  (6  S.),  T.  13,  pp. 
523-534  ) 8vo.  Paris,  1877. 

Harmand,  Dr.  J.  Notes  sur  les  provinces  du  bassin  meridional 
du  Se  Moun  (Laos  et  Cambodge  Siamois).  (Bulletin  So- 
ciete de  Geographic  (6  S.),  T.  14,  pp.  225-238.  Map.)  8vo. 
Paris,  1877. 

Harmand,  Dr.  J.  Excursion  de  Bassac  a Attopen.  (Bulletin 
Societe  de  Geographic  (6  S.),  T.  14,  pp.  239-247.)  8vo. 
Paris,  1877. 

Mikloukho-Maklai,  . Voyage  de,  dans  la  Presqu’ile  de 

Malaisie.  Lettre  au  Secretaire  de  la  Societe  russe  de  geogra- 


36  2 


APPENDIX 


phie.  (Bulletin  Societe  de  Geographic  (6  S.),  T.  13,  pp. 
424-427,  map.)  8vo.  Paris,  1877. 

The  Voyages  of  Sir  James  Lancaster,  Kt.,  to  the  East  Indies, 
with  Abstracts  of  Journals  of  Voyages  to  the  East  Indies 
during  the  Seventeenth  Century,  preserved  in  the  India 
Office;  and  the  voyage  of  Capt.  John  Knight  (1606)  to  seek 
the  North-West  Passage.  Edited  by  Clements  R.  Markham. 
(Hakluyt  Society’s  publications,  Vol.  56.)  8vo.  London, 
1877. 

Fytche,  Colonel  A.  Burma,  Past  and  Present,  with  Personal 
Reminiscences  of  the  Country.  2 vols.  Map  and  plates.  8vo. 
London,  1878. 

Maclay,  N.  Von  Mikluho.  Ethnological  Excursions  in  the  Ma- 
lay Peninsula.  (Journal  of  the  Straits  British  Royal  Asiatic 
Society,  No.  2,  pp.  205-221.)  8vo.  Singapore,  1878. 

Skinner,  A.  M.  Geography  of  the  Malay  Peninsula.  Part  I. 
(Journal  of  the  Straits  British  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  No.  1, 
pp.  52-62.)  8vo.  Singapore,  1878. 

Bunbury,  Sir  E.  H.  A History  of  Ancient  Geography  Among 
the  Greeks  and  Romans,  from  the  Earliest  Ages  till  the  Fall 
of  the  Roman  Empire.  2 vols.  Maps.  8vo.  London,  1879. 

Dupuis,  J.  L’Ouverture  du  Fleuve  Rouge  au  Commerce  et  les 
Evenements  du  Tong-Kin,  1872-73:  Journal  de  Voyage  et 
d’Expedition.  Map  and  portrait.  4to.  Paris,  1879. 

Gordon,  Robert.  Report  on  the  Irrawaddy  River.  Maps.  Folio. 
Rangoon,  1879-80. 

Harmand,  Dr.  J.  Rapport  sur  une  mission  en  Indo-Chine,  de 
Bassac  a Hue  (16  Avril — 14  Aout,  1877).  (Archives  des 
Missions  Scientifiques  et  Litteraires  (3  S.),  5,  247-281.) 
8vo.  Paris,  1879. 

Hornaday,  A.  J.  Account  of  a Naturalist’s  Visit  to  Selangor. 
(Journal  of  the  Straits  British  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  No.  3, 
pp.  124-131.)  8vo.  Singapore,  1879. 


APPENDIX 


363 


Peal,  S.  E.  Note  on  the  old  Burmese  Route  over  Patkai  via 
Nongyang  (viewed  as  the  most  feasible  and  direct  route 
from  India  to  China).  (Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of 
Bengal,  Vol.  48,  pt.  II,  69.)  8vo.  Calcutta,  1879. 

Quatrefages,  A.  de.  Rapport  sur  le  voyage  d’exploration  fait 
par  le  docteur  Harmand  dans  les  provinces  de  Mulu-Prey, 
Toule-Repan  et  Compong-Soa'i ; sur  la  rive  droite  du  Me- 
Kong.  (Archives  des  Missions  Scientifiques  et  Litteraires 
(3  S.),  5,  PP-  9-I7-)  8vo.  Paris,  1879. 

Cochinchine  Fran^aise.  Excursions  et  Reconnaissances.  Tome 
2 (Nos.  5,  6),  3-14  and  15  (No.  33).  Maps,  etc.  Roy.  8vo. 
Saigon,  1880-89. 

Delaporte,  L.  Voyage  au  Cambodge:  L’Architecture  Khmer. 
Maps  and  plates.  8vo.  Paris,  1880. 

Leech,  H.  W.  C.  About  Kinta.  About  Slim  and  Ber- 

nam.  (Journal  of  the  Straits  British  Royal  Asiatic  Society, 
No.  4,  pp.  21-45.)  8vo.  Singapore,  1880. 

Swettenham,  F.  A.  From  Perak  to  Slim  and  down  the  Slim 
and  Bernam  Rivers.  (Journal  of  the  Straits  British  Royal 
Asiatic  Society,  No.  5,  pp.  5i-68a.)  8vo.  Singapore,  1880. 

De  la  Croix,  J.  Errington.  Some  Account  of  the  Mining  Dis- 
tricts of  Lower  Perak.  (Journal  of  the  Straits  British  Royal 
Asiatic  Society,  No.  7,  pp.  1-10.)  Map  and  Section.  8vo. 
Singapore,  1881. 

Peal,  S.  E.  Report  on  a Visit  to  the  Nongyang  Lake,  on  the 
Burmese  Frontier,  February,  1879.  (Journal  of  the  Asiatic 
Society  of  Bengal,  Vol.  50,  pt.  II,  1.)  8vo.  Calcutta,  1881. 

Swettenham,  F.  A.  Some  Account  of  the  Independent  Native 
States  of  the  Malay  Peninsula,  Part  I.  (Journal  of  the 
Straits  British  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  No.  6,  pp.  161-202.) 
Map.  8vo.  Singapore,  1881. 

Maxwell,  W.  E.  Journey  on  Foot  to  the  Patani  Frontier  in 
1876.  (Journal  of  the  Straits  British  Royal  Asiatic  Society, 
No.  9,  pp.  1-67.)  8vo.  Singapore,  1882. 


3 6 4 


APPENDIX 


Cameron,  W.  On  the  Patani.  (Journal  of  the  Straits  British 
Royal  Asiatic  Society,  No.  n,  pp.  123-142.)  8vo.  Singa- 
pore, 1883. 

Colquhoun,  A.  R.  Across  Chryse:  being  the  Narrative  of  a 
Journey  of  Exploration  through  the  South  China  Border 
Lands  from  Canton  to  Mandalay.  2 vols.  Maps  and  illus- 
trations. 8vo.  London,  1883. 

Moura,  J.  Le  Royaume  du  Cambodge.  2 vols.  Maps,  plans,  and 
illustrations.  Large  8vo.  Paris,  1883. 

Peal,  S.  E.  Notes  of  a Trip  up  the  Dihing  basin  to  Dapha  Pani, 
etc.,  January  and  February,  1882.  (Journal  of  the  Asiatic 
Society  of  Bengal,  Vol.  52,  pt.  II,  7.)  8vo.  Calcutta,  1883. 

Colquhoun,  A.  R.,  and  Holt  S.  Hallett.  Report  on  the  Rail- 
way Connexion  of  Burmah  and  China;  with  Account  of  Ex- 
ploration-Survey, by  Holt  S.  Hallett,  accompanied  by  Sur- 
veys, Vocabularies,  and  Appendices.  Maps  and  illustrations. 
Folio.  London,  1884. 

The  Voyage  of  John  Huyghen  Van  Linschoten  to  the  East 
Indies.  From  the  Old  English  Translation  of  1598.  The 
First  Book,  containing  his  Description  of  the  East.  Edited, 
the  first  volume  by  the  late  A.  C.  Burnell,  Ph.D. ; the  second 
volume  by  Mr.  P.  A.  Tiele.  2 vols.  (Hakluyt  Society’s 
publications,  Vols.  70  and  71.)  Frontispiece.  8vo.  London, 
1885. 

Bouinais,  A.,  and  A.  Paulus.  L’lndo-Chine  Frangaise  Contem- 
poraine.  Cochinchine.  2e  edition.  Cambodge,  Tonkin,  An- 
nam.  2 vols.  Maps  and  illustrations.  Large  8vo.  Paris, 
1885. 

A Missionary’s  Journey  through  Laos  from  Bangkok  to 
Ubon.  Contributed  by  the  Rev.  N.  J.  Couvreur.  (Journal 
of  the  Straits  British  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  No.  15,  pp.  103- 
117.)  8vo.  Singapore,  1885. 

Colquhoun,  A.  R.  Amongst  the  Shans ; with  upwards  of  fifty 


APPENDIX 


365 


whole-page  Illustrations,  and  a Historical  Sketch  of  the 
Shans,  by  Holt  S.  Hallett : preceded  by  an  Introduction  on  the 
Cradle  of  the  Shan  Race,  by  Terrien  de  Lacouperie.  Map. 
8vo.  London,  1885. 

Petit,  E.  Francis  Gamier,  sa  Vie,  ses  Voyages,  ses  CEuvres. 
Paris,  1885. 

Scott,  J.  G.  (Shway  Yoe).  France  and  Tonking:  a Narrative 
of  the  Campaign  of  1884  and  the  Occupation  of  Further 
India.  Map  and  plans.  8vo.  London,  1885. 

Swettenham,  F.  A.  Journal  kept  during  a journey  across  the 
Malay  Peninsula.  (Journal  of  the  Straits  British  Royal 
Asiatic  Society,  No.  15,  pp.  1-37.)  Map.  8vo.  Singapore, 
1885. 

Bryce,  J.  A.  Burma:  the  Country  and  People.  (Proceedings 
of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  (N.  S.),  Vol.  8,  pp.  481- 
501.)  Map.  Large  8vo.  London,  1886. 

Hallett,  Holt  S.  Exploration  Survey  for  a Railway  Connec- 
tion between  India,  Siam,  and  China.  (Proceedings  of  the 
Royal  Geographical  Society,  Vol.  8 (N.  S.),  pp.  1-20.)  Map. 
Large  8vo.  London,  1886. 

Scott,  J.  G.  (Shway  Yoe).  Burma  as  it  was,  as  it  is,  and  as  it 
will  be.  Sm.  8vo.  London,  1886. 

The  Voyage  of  Franqois  Pyrard  of  Laval  to  the  East  Indies, 
the  Maldives,  the  Moluccas,  and  Brazil.  Translated  into 
English  from  the  Third  French  Edition  of  1619,  and  edited, 
with  Notes,  by  Albert  Gray,  assisted  by  H.  C.  P.  Bell. 
(Hakluyt  Society’s  publications,  Vols.  76,  77,  80.)  Vol.  1. 
Map  and  illustrations.  8vo.  London,  1887.  Vol.  2,  Part  1. 
Illustrations.  8vo.  London,  1888.  Vol.  2,  Part  2.  Charts 
and  plates.  8vo.  London,  1890. 

Dew,  A.  T.  Exploring  Expedition  from  Selama  Perak,  to  Pong, 
Patani.  (Journal  of  the  Straits  British  Royal  Asiatic  So- 
ciety, No.  19,  pp.  105-123.)  8vo.  Singapore,  1887. 


366 


APPENDIX 


Browne,  _ieut.-Col.  E.  C.  The  Coming  of  the  Great  Queen: 
a Narrative  of  the  Acquisition  of  Burma.  Maps  and  illus- 
trations. 8vo.  London,  1888. 

McCarthy,  J.  Siam.  (Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Geographical 
Society  (N.  S.),  Vol.  10,  pp.  1 17-134.)  Map.  Large  8vo. 
London,  1888. 

Stringer,  C.  E.  W.  Report  of  a Journey  to  the  Laos  State  of 
Nan,  Siam.  Map.  Folio.  London,  1888. 

Colquhoun,  A.  R.  Exploration  in  Southern  and  South-Western 
China.  (R.  G.  S.  Supplementary  Papers,  Vol.  2.)  Maps. 
Large  8vo.  London,  1889. 

Paris,  C.  Voyage  d’Exploration  de  Hue  en  Cochinchine  par  la 
Route  Mandarine.  Maps  and  illustrations.  8vo.  Paris,  1889. 

Woodthorpe,  Col.  R.  G.  Explorations  on  the  Chindwin  River, 
Upper  Burma.  (Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Geographical  So- 
ciety (N.  S.),  Vol.  11,  pp.  197-216.)  Map.  Large  8vo.  Lon- 
don, 1889. 

Hallett,  Holt  S.  A Thousand  Miles  on  an  Elephant  in  the 
Shan  States.  Maps  and  illustrations.  8vo.  London,  1890. 

Keith,  A.  An  Account  of  a Journey  across  the  Malay  Peninsula 
from  Koh  Lak  to  Mergui.  (Journal  of  the  Straits  British 
Royal  Asiatic  Society,  No.  24,  pp.  31-41.)  8vo.  Singapore, 
1891. 

Keith,  A.  Notes  on  the  Siamese  Provinces  of  Koowi,  Bang- 
taphan,  Pateeo  and  Champoon.  (Journal  of  the  Straits  Brit- 
ish Royal  Asiatic  Society,  No.  24,  pp.  63-78.)  Map.  8vo. 
Singapore,  1891. 

Eliott,  Lt.  Expeditions  among  the  Kachin  Tribes  on  the 
North-east  Frontier  of  Upper  Burma.  Compiled  from  the 
Reports  of  Lieutenant  Eliott  by  Gen.  J.  T.  Walker.  (Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  (N.  S.),  Vol. 
14,  pp.  161-173.)  Map.  Large  8vo.  London,  1892. 

Orleans,  Prince  H.  d’.  Autour  du  Tonkin.  Maps  and  illus- 
trations. 8vo.  Paris,  1894.  Around  Tonkin  and  Siam. 


APPENDIX  367 

Translation  by  C.  B.  Pitman.  Map  and  illustrations.  8vo. 
London,  1894. 

Fournereau,  L.  Le  Siam  Ancien,  Archeologie,  Epigraphie, 
Geographie.  Premiere  Partie.  (Annales  de  Musee  Guirnet. 
T.  27.)  Plates  and  fac-simile  maps.  Sm.  4to.  Paris,  1895. 
Smyth,  H.  W.  Notes  of  a Journey  on  the  Upper  Mekong,  Siam. 
Map  and  illustrations.  8vo.  London  [Royal  Geographical  So- 
ciety], 1895. 

Orleans,  Prince  H.  d’.  Du  Tonkin  aux  Indes,  Janvier,  1895 — 
Janvier,  1896.  Maps  and  illustrations.  Large  8vo.  Paris, 
1898.  From  Tonkin  to  India  by  the  Sources  of  the  Irawadi, 
January,  ’95,  January,  ’96.  Translation  by  Hawley  Bent. 
Map  and  illustrations.  Large  8vo.  London,  1898. 

Pavie,  A.  Mission  Pavie  Indo-Chine,  1879-1895.  5 vols.  Maps 
and  illustrations.  4to.  Paris,  1898-1902. 

Smyth,  H.  Warington.  Five  Years  in  Siam,  from  1891  to  1896. 

2 vols.  Maps  and  illustrations.  8vo.  London,  1898. 
Aymonier,  E.  Le  Cambodge.  2 vols.  Maps  and  illustrations. 
Sm.  folio.  Paris,  1900-1901. 

Dubois,  Robert.  Le  Tonkin  en  1900.  Map  and  illustrations. 
4to.  Paris,  1900. 

Lagrilliere-Beauclerc,  E.  A Travers  1’Indo-Chine,  Cochin- 
chine,  Cambodge,  Annam,  Tonkin,  Laos.  Map  and  illustra- 
tions. 8vo.  Paris,  1900. 

McCarthy,  J.  Surveying  and  Exploring  in  Siam.  Map,  chart 
and  illustrations.  8vo.  London  [Royal  Geographical  Society], 
1900. 

Gervais-Courtellemont,  , and  others.  Empire  Colonial 

de  la  France,  L’lndo-Chine,  Cochinchine,  Cambodge,  Laos, 
Annam,  Tonkin.  Map  and  illustrations.  4to.  Paris  [n.  d.]. 
Reinach,  L.  de.  Le  Laos.  2 vols.  Maps  and  illustrations.  4to. 
Paris  [n.  d.]. 

General  Reports  of  the  Operations  of  the  Survey  of  India 
Department.  Annual.  Folio.  Calcutta. 


OROGRAPHICAL  MAP 


FARTHER  INDIA 


FARTHER  INDIA 


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Kalfij 


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KnlolullV 


Island* 


COLOURING 


[loq/idtl* 


, ^^Rhia^Arftip0 


INDEX 


Abel-Remusat,  152 
Abufeda,  the  work  of,  21 
Abu  Zaid  Hassan,  the  work  of,  19 
Acheh,  English  factory  established 
at,  108,  no 
Aeng  Pass,  258 
Akiu,  258 
Alevy,  232 

Alexandria,  enormous  impetus  to 
trade  between,  and  the  East,  5 
Amarapura,  117 

Amber  mines  in  the  Hukong  Val- 
ley, 264 
Amboyna,  no 

American  Missions  and  Dr.  S.  R. 

House,  the,  299 
Andre  Furtado,  no 
Angkor,  302 

the  splendid  buildings  of,  12, 
145 

Angkor  Thom,  150  et  seq. 

Angkor  Wat,  the  temple  of,  147 
et  seq. 

Anglo-French  Mekong  Commis- 
sion, 322 

Anglo-Siamese  Boundary  Commis- 
sion, the,  322 
Angochin  hills,  258 
Antonio  de  Faria,  87,  91 
Arakan,  258 

Arakan  Pass,  Jenkins's  and  Pem- 
berton’s report  on  the,  259 
Argyre,  the  Isle  of  Silver,  4 
Athonison,  113 
Ava,  255 

and  Burma,  British  attitude  to- 
wards, 255 
missions  to,  115 
the  Court  of,  255 


Ava,  the  domination  of  the  King  of, 
over  Burma,  86 
the  revolution  at,  272 
to  Mimbu,  Pemberton’s  jour- 
ney from,  258 
to  the  Hukong  Valley,  259 
Ayuthia,  300,  320 

first  European  visitor  to,  69 

Baber,  Mr.  Colborne,  293 

the  importance  of  his  work,  293 
receives  the  Patron’s  medal  of 
the  R.  G.  Society,  294 
Bailey,  Mr.  W.  W.,  327 
Baker,  Captain,  115 
Bakheng,  Pagoda  of  Mount,  148 
Bangkok,  301 

and  Maulmain,  telegraph  line 
between,  308 
overland  trade  with,  183 
Bang  Pa  Kong,  301 
Ban  Le,  312 

Ban  Naphao,  the  grave  of  Mouhot 
at,  211 

Bantam,  the  importance  of,  to 
England  and  Holland,  109 
Bassak,  174,  180  et  seq. 

Bassein,  255 
Batambang,  163,  301 
Bayfield,  Dr.  G.  T.,  266 
Becher,  Mr.  H.  M.,  326,  329 
Bengal,  the  Gulf  of,  304 
Berman  River,  the,  325 
Bhamo,  259,  277,  278,  289,  293,  294 
Hannay  visits,  259 
the  passes  from,  into  Yun-nan, 
262 

Birch,  Mr.  J.  W.,  323 
Black  Flags,  the,  306 


369 


37° 


INDEX 


Black,  Mr.  J.  S.,  344 
Bomfemes,  84 
Bowers,  Captain,  277 
Bowring,  Sir  John,  119,  301 
Bozzolo,  Mr.,  324 
Brahmaputra,  the,  290,  342 
the,  up  to  Rima,  298 
Briffaud,  M.,  318 
British  and  Burmese  Governments, 
the  relations  between,  296 
British  attitude  towards  Ava  and 
Burma,  255 

British  East  India  Company,  the 
first,  1 05,  108 
Browne,  Colonel,  292 
Buchanan,  Dr.,  116,  255 
Buddhist  nuns,  283 
Burma  annexed,  296 

a systematic  survey  of,  320 
China  Boundary  Commission, 
321 

European  intercourse  with,  82 
et  seq. 

lack  of  knowledge  of  the 
topography  of,  255 
Marco  Polo’s  references  to,  82 
Burmese  War,  lack  of  knowledge 
of  Burma  up  to,  255 
the  last  stages  of  the,  296 
Burney,  Major,  118,  122,  256 
Bush,  Mr.,  310 

the  death  of,  31 1 

Cameron,  Mr.,  295,  325 
Campbell,  Dr.  James,  302 
Campbell,  Sir  Archibald,  117,  256 
Caulfield,  Mr.  St.  George,  325 
Ceylon,  first  hand  information  of, 
obtained  by  Pliny,  5 
trade  carried  on  by  the  na- 
tives of  Taprobane  (Ceylon) 
with  the  Seres  of  Northern 
China,  6 

Chantabun,  301,  302 
Charnier,  Admiral,  140 
Che-pin,  238,  239 

Chersonesus  Aurea,  first  mention 
of,  10;  mentioned  in  Josephus’s 
Antiquities  of  the  Jews,  11 
Chevruel,  Pere,  154 
Chieng  Hong,  216,  335 


Chieng  Hsen,  223 
Chieng  Khong,  222 
Chieng  Kwang,  310 
Chieng  Mai,  215,  267,  301,  304,  313, 
320 

Chieng  Menam,  267 
Chieng  Nua,  234 
Chieng  Tong,  227 
trade  with,  216 

Chindwin,  the,  or  Ningthi  River, 
257 

Chinese  civilisation,  the,  17 
Chin  Kiang,  240 
Chip  Song  Panna,  232 
Chittagong,  116,  258 
Choki  of  Tsampaynago,  260 
Christoval  de  Jaques,  97,  153 
Chryse  the  Golden,  3,  331 
Chu  Chai,  234 

Cochin-China  ceded  to  France,  126 
Collins,  Mr.  D.  J.,  312 
Colquhoun,  Mr.  Archibald,  295 
Constantine  Phaulkon,  or  Falcon, 
120 

Cooper,  Mr.  T.  T.,  290 
Cornelius  Houtman,  the  first  Dutch 
commander,  106  et  seq. 

Cosmas  Indicopleustes,  14 
Crawfurd,  John,  118,  122,  323 
Cupet,  Captain,  315 

Dabreu,  Antonio,  72 

the  importance  of  the  voyage 
of,  73 

Dalboquerque,  54  et  seq. 
the  death  of,  76 

Dalmeida,  first  Portuguese  vice- 
roy, 52 

Daly  and  O’Brien,  Messrs.,  325 
D’Anville,  341 
Davis,  Captain,  300 
de  Carne,  M.  Louis,  144 
de  Chaumont,  Chevalier,  121 
Delaforte,  M.  Louis,  144 
de  Lagree,  Captain  Doudart,  127, 
157 

attacked  with  fever  at  Kon- 
chang,  245 

entrance  into  Se-Mao,  235 
the  death  of,  251 
visit  to  Ma  Ta  Jen,  9 


INDEX  371 


de  Lagree-Garnier  expedition,  128, 
143,  167,  2ii,  335  et  seq. 
the  achievements  of  the,  251 
de  Malglaive,  Captain,  315 
de  Mazure,  Mgr.,  Vicar  Apostolic 
of  Tibet,  262 

de  Miranda,  Antonio,  exploration 
into  lower  Siam,  69 
Desgodins,  341 
Diaz,  Bishop,  126 
Dibong,  the,  319 

Diogo  Lopez  de  Siqueira  set  out  to 
conquer  Malacca,  51  et  seq. 

Doi  Intanou,  320 
Don-Deng,  174 
Duff,  Mr.  R.  W.,  327 
Dupha  Gam,  259 
Dupleix,  136,  143 
Dupuis,  127,  239,  305 
Dutch  East  India  Company , the, 
106  et  seq. 

Dutch  settlements  in  Cochin-China, 
123 

Duyshart,  201,  213 
Dwom  Tulve,  270 

Eastern  Frontier  of  India,  Grant’s 
report  on  the,  258 
Eastern  world,  Greek  ignorance  of,  2 
knowledge  of,  1 et  seq. 

East  India  Company,  113 
Edrisi,  the  work  of,  21  et  seq. 

the  chart  of,  22 
Ellerton,  Mr.  H.  B.,  328 
English,  the  first  commercial  expe- 
dition to  the  East,  102 
Errol  Gray,  Mr.,  298 
F.smok  or  Sze-mao,  295 
European  attempts  to  locate  South- 
eastern Asia,  the  earliest,  4 
European  intercourse  with  Burma, 
Siam,  and  with  Indo-China,  82  et 
seq. 

European  invasion  of  Asia,  34 

Fenouil,  Pere,  called  Ko-su-to,  244 
Fernandez  Pinto,  87 
Fitch,  Robert,  the  first  Englishman 
to  visit  Burma,  84 
Fleetwood,  Edward,  114 


Friar  John  de  Marignolli,  35,  40  et 
seq. 

Friquegnon,  Captain,  315 
Galas,  the,  327 

Ganges,  earliest  mention  of,  by 
Megasthenes,  3 

earliest  mention  of  land  east  of 
the,  3 

Gamier,  Francis,  129,  247,  287,  305, 
334,  343 

description  of  Mouhot’s  grave, 
211 

Royal  Geographical  medal  given 
to,  250 

seized  Hanoi  citadel,  306 
the  death  of,  306 
tribute  to  the  French  mission- 
aries, Protteau  and  Fenouil, 

244 

tribute  to  the  Khmers,  166 
work  done  by,  2 

Garnier-de  Lagree  expedition.  Vide 
under  de  Lagree 
Gaspar  de  Cruz,  84,  97 
Gasparo  Balbi,  84 

Gia  Long,  King  of  Cochin-China, 
Annam,  and  Tongking,  125 
Giles,  Captain  R.  A.,  325 
Gill,  Captain  W.  J.,  295 
Gordon,  Mr.  Robert,  289 
Grant  Allen,  Major,  274 
Grant,  Captain,  258 
Greek  ignorance  of  the  Eastern 
world,  2 
Griffiths,  266 

Grosvenor,  the  Hon.  T.,  293 
Grotius’s  Mare  Liberum,  81 
Gunong  Tahan,  326 

the  ascent  of,  329 
Gyne  River,  Richardson  and  Mc- 
Leod’s journey  up  the,  270 

Haiphong,  307 

Hamilton’s  account  of  the  East 
Indies,  121 
Hang  Tuah,  161 
Han-Kau,  253,  291 
Hannay,  Captain  S.  F.,  259,  262 
achievement,  265 


372 


INDEX 


Hanoi,  306,  307 

citadel  seized  by  Gamier,  306 
Harmand,  M.,  313,  316 
Harmand’s  journeys,  316 
Haw,  the  suppression  of  the,  313 
et  seq. 

Heathcote,  Lieutenant,  274 
Hecataeus  of  Miletus,  first  mention 
of  India  by,  3 
Hia-Kuan,  248 
Hiang-kuan,  250 

Hieronymo  da  Santa  Stephano,  83 
Higginson,  Nathaniel,  114 
Hindu  influence,  164 
Hippalus,  the  voyages  of,  5 

showed  the  Arabs  and  Greeks 
the  way  across  the  Indian 
Ocean,  15 

the  southwest  monsoon  called 
after,  5 

Hong-pu-so,  246 

Ho-Nhi,  the,  237 

Hotha  route  to  Burma,  the,  289 

Ho-ti-Kiang,  238 

House,  Dr.  S.  R.,  and  the  American 
Missions,  299 
Hui-lu-Chu,  246 
Hukong  Valley,  the,  264 

the  position  of,  determined, 
265 


Ibn  Batuta,  34 

the  travels  of,  38  et  seq. 

India,  the  direct  sea-route  to,  5 
first  mention  of,  by  Hecataeus  of 
Miletus  and  Megasthenes,  3 
opening  of  the  direct  sea-route,  5 

India-Ocean  route  discovered  by 
Hippalus,  15 

Indo-China,  Dutch  and  English  set- 
tlements in,  123 
European  intercourse  with,  82 
et  seq. 

Pinto’s  verdict  upon,  97 
the  French  map  of,  317 

Indo-Chinese  mountain  system,  the, 
342  et  seq. 

Irawadi,  258,  263,  266,  319,  341 
above  Mandalay,  277 
Flotilla  Company,  296 


Irawadi,  supposed  source  of  the, 
289 

the  lower,  289 

the  problem  of  the  source  of 
the,  297 

the  valley  of  the,  above  Ava, 
259 

the  western  branch  of  the,  297 


Java,  Odoric’s  description  of,  36 
Ibn  Batuta’s  description  of,  39 
J£lai,  the,  327 

Jenkins,  Captain,  and  Pemberton’s 
report  on  the  Arakan  Pass,  259 
Joubert,  M.  Eugene,  144 


Ka-du-gyi,  271 

Kakhyen  tribesmen,  the,  277 
Kakhyens,  261 
Kala  Naga,  258 
Kalproth,  341 
Kambodia,  162 

M.  Harmand’s  explorations  in, 

314 

Kampangpet,  308 
Kampti  Shan  country,  the,  297 
Kanburi,  304 
Kan-chu-tse,  251 

Karin  population  of  the  Pegu 
Yoma  range,  276 
Karins,  267 

McLeod’s  account  of,  270 
the  country  of  the  Red,  271 
Katha,  261,  263 
Kelantan,  324,  328 
River,  the,  327 
Kendat,  258 
Khas  Denong,  194 
Khas  Khos,  226 
Khas  Kuis,  226 
Khmer  ruins  at  Angkor,  97 
Khmers  of  Kambodia,  the  archi- 
tecture of,  18 

Khmers,  Gamier’s  tribute  to  the, 
166 

the  origin  of,  162  et  seq. 

Khon  Falls,  the,  172 
Kiang-Chuan,  the  lake  of,  240 
King,  Mr.  D.  O.,  301 


INDEX 


373 


Kink-dwen,  260 
Kin-sha-Kiang,  the,  246,  295 
Kiu-Kiang,  the,  319 
Kodau,  or  “beg-pardon  day,”  256 
Koki  villages,  the,  258 
Kompang  Soai,  316 
Kon-Chang,  de  Lagree  attacked 
with  fever  at,  24s 
Korat,  320 

overland  trade  with,  183 
the  great  plateau  near,  345 
Kota  Lama,  324 
Kra  canal  scheme,  the,  276 
Kra,  the  isthmus  of,  275,  344 
Kuala  Tembeling,  325 
Kuang-tia-pin,  250 
Kudu,  272 
Kui-nhon,  307 

Kuitze,  the  insurgent  Muham- 
madans, 236 
Kungtun,  261 

Kywundo,  the  island  of,  261 

Labong,  or  Lampun,  268 
Lakon,  269 

Lampun,  or  Labun,  304 
Lamung,  266 

Lancaster  and  Raymond,  command 
first  English  expedition  to  Asia, 
102  et  seq. 

Lan-tsang,  the  valley  of  the,  290 
Lao  Papa,  de  Lagree’s  visit  to,  244 
a Muhammadan  Haji,  242 
Laos  States,  310 

Laotine  inhabitants  of  the  reaches 
of  the  Mekong,  222 
Laotines,  the,  175 
Leang  Ta  Jen,  239,  243 
Lebir  River,  the,  327 
Lefevre,  Dr.,  317 
Lefevre-Pontalis,  M.,  317 
Leguilcher,  Pere,  247 
Lepper,  342 

Leria,  Giovanni  Maria,  207 
Lesley,  Captain  James,  114 
Le  Vay,  Ensign,  334 
Lignite  found  at  Kendat,  258 
Lin-ngan,  239 
Lis-hi-ta-hi,  280,  284 
Lister,  Ensign,  115 


Lister,  the  Hon.  Martin,  325 
Li-tang  Ho,  246 

the  valley  of  the,  245 
Locac,  Polo’s  description  of,  27 
Colonel  Yule’s  identification  of, 

27 

Logan,  323 
Lohit,  the,  319 
Lopburi,  300 
Louvet,  97 

Low,  Sir  Hugh,  309,  323 

Luang  Prabang,  203,  21 1,  253,  301 

Lu,  Pere,  246 


Macgregor,  Major  C.  R.,  297 
Ma-chang,  251 

Madres  de  Dios,  the  importance  of 
the  capture  of  the,  105 
Magellan,  79,  82 
Maha  Sai,  232 

Malacca,  Dalboquerque’s  expedition 
to  conquer,  54  et  seq. 
conquest  of,  by  the  Dutch,  1 1 1 
direct  trade  of,  with  Portugal, 
97 

first  battle  and  conquest  of,  65 
first  government  by  Portugal, 
68 

Malay  Peninsula,  the,  323 
the  survey  of  the,  328 
Manipur,  routes  from,  into  Burma 
territory,  258 
Manipur  to  Kendat,  258 
Manoel  Falcao,  87 
Manwyne,  278 
Marco  Polo,  294 

the  Book  of  Messer,  274 
the  journey  of,  in  the  East,  24 
et  seq. 

Mare  Liberum  by  Grotius,  81 
Margary,  Mr.  A.  R.,  291 
the  murder  of,  292 
Marinus  of  Tyre,  331 

the  geographical  knowledge  of, 
7 et  seq. 

Martin  Affonso  de  Castro,  no 
Masudi,  the  work  of,  21  et  seq. 

the  chart  of,  22 
Matelief,  no  et  seq. 

Ma  Tien,  or  Ma  Ta  Jen,  242 


374 


INDEX 


Maukadau,  257 
Maulmain,  303 

to  Mandalay,  the  first  Euro- 
pean to  journey  from,  273 
Mauphoo,  283 
Maxwell,  Sir  William,  325 
Mazeran,  Ensign,  335 
McCarthy,  Mr.,  294,  305,  308,  312 
McCarthy’s,  Mr.  J.,  map  of  Siam, 
214 

McCarthy’s  surveys,  320 
McLeod,  Major  General,  214,  233, 
253.  269.  270 

Megasthenes,  earliest  mention  of 
the  Ganges  by,  3 
Me  Gnau,  the  valley  of  the,  267 
Meingkhwon,  264 
Mein-lung-hi,  267 
Meklong,  the,  299,  304 
Mekong,  333  et  seq. 

Laotine  inhabitants  of  the 
reaches  of  the,  222 
Louvet  visited  the  delta  of  the, 
97 

McLeod’s  estimate  of  the,  217 
Prince  Henri  of  Orleans,  ex- 
plorations on  the,  317 
the  explorers  of  the,  334  et  seq. 
the  mouth  of  the,  192 
the  tributaries  of  the,  339 
the  valleys  of  the  Salwin  and 
the,  294 

Mekong  Commission,  Sir  J.  G. 

Scott’s,  317 
Menam,  the,  299,  340 
Me-nam-noi,  304 
Mendez  Pinto,  83,  88  et  seq. 
Me-ping  River,  the,  267,  301 
Mikioucho-Maclay,  Baron,  326 
Min-kin,  the,  250 

Mink  Meng,  King  of  Annam,  125 
Mogaung,  the  terminus  of  the  rail- 
way from  Katha,  263 
Mogaung  River,  the,  263 
Moluccas,  the,  or  Spice  Islands,  78, 
80 

Dutch  and  English  trade  with, 
109 

Portuguese  direct  trade  with,  79 
Mo-mein,  286 
Momein,  293 


Monai,  272 
Mong-ku,  251 

Mouhot,  Henri,  149,  302,  345 
death  of,  21 1 

expedition  of,  202,  208  et  seq. 
Mountain  system  between  Tenas- 
serim  and  Siam,  303 
Muhammadan  power,  the  rise  of, 
16,  18 

rebellion,  the  end  of  the,  290 
Muong  Amnat,  the  cultivation  of 
silk-worms  at,  192 
Muong  Haut  or  Muong  Hal,  267 
Muong  Kabin,  301 
Muong  Kao,  312 
Muong  Lim,  224 
Muong  Ngan,  31 1 
Muong  Pang,  234 
Muong  Pre,  320 
Muong  Son,  312 
Muong  Teng,  313 
Muong  Yong,  227 
Mu  tsen,  225 
Mynela,  282 
Mynetee,  285 

Mytho,  the  taking  of,  140 

Nakou  Sawan,  308 
Nam  Chan,  31 1 
Nam  Ha,  232 
Nam  Hu,  312 
Nam-Kin,  the,  298 
Nam  Tang,  310 
Nam  Yang,  233 
Nam  Yom,  the,  320 
Nam  Yong,  263 
Nam  Yot,  234 
Nam  Yun,  263 
Nan,  312 
Nantin,  285 

Neale,  Frederick  Arthur,  300 
Neaung  Shewai,  273 
Needham,  Mr.  J.  F.,  298 
Negri  Sembilan,  327 
Neiss,  M.,  31 1 
Newbolt,  323 

Ngatgyi,  the,  or  spirits  of  the 
Three  Brother  Tsanhuas,  264 
Ngwai  Tung,  276 

Nicolo  de  Conti,  first  white  man  to 
land  in  Pegu,  82 


INDEX 


375 


Nicolo  de  Conti,  his  travels,  82  et 
seq. 

Nicolon,  Lieutenant,  315 
Ningthi,  the,  or  Chindwin  River,  257 
Nong  Kai,  198 
Nung  Belai,  276 

Odoric  of  Pordone,  34  et  seq. 
Onco,  the  temple  of,  154 
Ophir,  ancient  Kambodia  held  to  be, 
by  Pa  vie,  12,  13 
O’Riley,  Mr.  Edward,  276 
Orleans,  Prince  Henri  of,  298,  317 
et  seq. 

Pachum,  31 1 
Pahang,  323 

Pahom  Pok,  a trigonometrical  sta- 
tion on,  320 
Pa-i,  the,  238 
Pak-Lai,  3 1 1 
Pak-nam  Po,  3 1 1 
Pakprian,  300 

Pallegoix,  Bishop,  299,  300 
Panglong,  276 

Panthai  authorities,  the,  279 
Panthays,  the,  283 
Pa-pien,  237 
Parkes,  Sir  Harry,  299 
Pavie,  M.  Auguste,  313,  334 

contends  that  ancient  Kambodia 
is  Ophir,  12 
Pedro  de  Acuna,  no 
Pedro  de  Faria,  90 
Pegu,  European  visitors  to,  83  et 
seq. 

the  destruction  of,  85 
Pegu  Yoma,  276 
Pe-ma  Ho,  247 
Pemberton,  258 

Penang,  the  East  India  Company’s 
settlement  at,  112 
Penti,  the,  250 
Perak,  the  State  of,  309 
the  Sultan  of,  323 
Pere  Fenouil,  called  Ko-su-to,  244 
Pere,  George  La  Mothe,  98 
Pere  Leguilcher,  248 
Pere  Lu,  246 
Pere  Protteau,  241,  244 


Pere  Tachard  and  Pere  Choisi,  121 
Periplus  of  the  Erythraean  Sea,  the, 
4,  6 

Perre,  M.  Joseph,  132 
Persian  sea-power,  the  growth  of, 
IS 

Pe-se,  295 
Petani,  309,  328 
Peu  Nom,  196 

Phayre,  Major  Arthur,  274,  283 

Philastre,  M.,  307 

Philip  de  Brito,  85 

Phu  Tai,  the,  194 

Phwongs,  262 

Pickled  tea,  260 

Pigneau  de  Behaine,  125 

Pin-Chuan,  247 

Pinto’s  verdict  upon  Indo-China,  97 
Pliny’s  first  hand  information  of 
Ceylon,  5 

Pnom-Brashe,  the  pagoda  of,  167 
Pnom  Penh,  188,  302 

Portuguese  trading-post  at,  99 
Pomponius  Mela,  first  hint  of  land 
east  of  the  Ganges,  3 
statements  as  to  the  Asiatic 
continent,  4 

Ponlyne,  the  chief  of,  278 
Ponsee,  284 
Pon-si,  281 

Ponsot,  Mgr.,  the  Bishop  of  Yun- 
nan, 252 

Pope  Alexander  VI,  the  Bull  of, 
80 

Portugal  and  the  wealth  of  Asia, 
48 

Portuguese  colonisation  of  Asia,  48 
et  seq. 

end  of  exploration  in  Southern 
Asia,  99 

their  explorations,  74  et  seq. 
their  lawlessness,  56 
viceroy,  first,  52 
Protteau,  Pere,  241,  244 
Prun,  290 
Ptolemy,  331 
Pu  Fai  Yai,  312 
Pu-ku  Kiang,  237 
Pulau  Kondor,  92,  123 
Pu-pio,  238 
Pu-ul-fu,  237 


INDEX 


376 


Raffles,  Sir  Stafford,  112 
Raheng,  304,  308 
Raman,  309 
Rangoon,  275,  283 
Red  Karins,  86 
Red  River,  the,  333 
Rennell,  Major,  341 
Rennie,  Captain,  274 
Reveillere,  Captain,  334 
Ribadeneyra,  154 

Richardson,  Dr.,  214,  258,  267,  303, 

309 

Rima,  298 

the  Tibetan  post,  290 
“River  of  Golden  Sand,”  the  Kin- 
sha-kiang,  29s 
Riviere,  Captain,  316 
Robaglia,  Lieutenant,  334 
Ross,  Captain  David,  258 
Rossmussen,  Lieutenant,  312 
Roux,  M.,  318 


Saba,  as  described  by  Friar  John, 
identified  as  Sabah  in  North 
Borneo,  41 
Sadiya,  290 
Saigon,  139,  306 
St.  Martin,  M.  Vivien,  338 
Salwin  River,  the,  267,  269,  318 
and  its  tributaries,  340 
the  valleys  of  the  Mekong  and 
the,  294 
Sampeng,  308 
Samuel,  Thomas,  113 
Samuel,  the  unhappy  trader,  268 
Sanda,  280,  281 
Saraburi,  309 

Sanpo  River  of  Tibet,  the,  298 
Schomburg,  Sir  Robert,  F.R.S.,  303, 

304 

Scott,  Sir  James,  298,  321 
Sea-route  to  China,  the  first  de- 
tailed account  of  the,  18 
Se-Kong,  the,  170,  178  et  seq. 
Selangor,  323 
Se-Mao,  235 

Se-Mun,  the,  182,  184,  316 
Sena  of  Chieng  Hong,  the,  231 
Sen-o-kai,  251 
Serai,  292 


Seres  of  Northern  China,  trade 
with  Ceylon,  6 
Serpentine  mines,  the,  265 
Shanghai  into  Burma,  291 
Shan  States,  the,  220  et  seq. 

a systematic  survey  of  the, 

321 

Shans  of  the  Chinese  frontier,  the, 
282 

Shuedung  Gyi  range,  the,  264 
Shuen  Tung,  260 
Shun-ning,  294 
Shwebo,  257 

Siam  and  Burma,  the  boundary  be- 
tween, 320 

Siam,  Dutch  intercourse  with,  118 
earliest  exploration  of,  by 
white  men,  69 

European  intercourse  with,  82 
et  seq. 

preparations  for  making  a map 
of,  308 

the  Portuguese  relations  with, 

87 

the  scientific  mapping  and  ex- 
ploration of,  305 
topographical  and  statistical  in- 
formation of,  300 
Siamreap,  163,  314 
Silkworms,  the  cultivation  of,  at 
Muong  Amnat,  192 
Simon,  Lieutenant,  334 
Singapore  ceded  to  England,  112 
Singfos,  259,  264 
Sirian,  114 

Skeat  expedition,  the,  328 
Sladen,  Captain,  276  et  seq. 

Smiles,  Mr.,  321 
Sombor,  the  rapids  of  the,  168 
Song-Bo,  237 
Song-ka,  334 
Song-koi,  the,  305 
Song-Ma,  the,  333 
Spice  Islands,  the,  or  the  Moluc- 
cas, 78 
Sprye,  341 
Stung-Treng,  172 
Sue,  the,  194 

Sumatra,  or  “Java  the  Less,” 
Polo’s  description  of,  28  et 
seq. 


INDEX 


377 


Sumatra,  called  Lamori  by  Odoric,  35 
Sungei  Ujong,  323 
Supanburi,  300 
Swettenham,  Sir  Frank,  325 
Symes,  Captain  Michael,  116,  225 
Szechenyi,  Count  Bela,  295 
Sze-mao,  or  Esmok,  295 

Tachin,  the,  300 
Tagaung,  the  old  fort  of,  260 
Myu,  260 
Ta-haw,  284 
Tai-lang,  237,  238 
Tai-phu,  245 
Tak-Khoa,  315 
Ta-li,  248 

Ta-li-fu,  242,  243,  249,  277 

to  Teng-yue,  the  route  from, 
293 

Tang-Ho,  the,  335 
Tanun,  312 
Ta-ping,  the,  262 

Sladen’s  reception  at,  280 
Tapoh,  263 
Tavoi,  304 
Telom,  the,  323 
Tenasserim,  344 

Teng-yue,  the  route  from  Ta-li-fu 
to,  293 
Ternate,  no 
Thai  Binh,  the,  307 
Thama  Tsai  Pidok,  223 
Thang  dynasty,  the,  163 
Thaphan  Beng,  262 
The-Tong,  250 
Thibaw,  296 

Thomassin,  Lieutenant,  317 
Thong-wet-shein,  286 
Thorel,  M.,  144 
Tibet,  the  lakes  of,  343 
Tisang,  the  valley  of  the,  298 
Tong  Bao,  the  temple  of,  196 
Tong-Chuan,  245 
Tong-hai,  239 
Tongking,  127 

the  gulf  of,  294 
Tong  Kuan,  237 
Tonle-Repu,  316 

Tonle  Sap,  the  lake  of,  97,  302,  344 
Townley,  Mr.  E.,  328 
Treaty  of  Peking,  139 


Treaty  of  Vienna,  112 
Tremenheere,  Captain  G.  B.,  275, 
3°9 

Trengganu,  324 

Valley,  the  map  of  the,  327 
Tsampaynago,  260 
Tsangpo,  the,  262 
Tsarony,  319 
Tshenbo,  263 
Tsin-chui-ho,  251 
Tsin-ning,  240 
Tuan-kuan,  308 
Tuli-Repu,  173 
Tung-Chieng-Kam,  312 
Tung-Kao,  239 
Tu-tui-tze,  250 
Tu-uan-si,  242,  243 
Tzan-hi-pa,  246 

Ubon,  185 
Udong,  302 
Uei-yuan,  237 
Utarit,  320 

Van  der  Hagen,  no 
Van  Dieman,  123 

Van  Linschoten,  Jan  Huygen,  98, 
105 

Van  Nek,  no 

Van  Wusthof,  Gerard,  123,  204  et 
seq. 

Vasco  de  Gama,  European  invasion 
of  Asia  begun  by,  34 
doubling  the  Cape,  45  et  seq. 
Vien  Chan,  198,  206,  232 

Wahab,  Mr.  Charles,  295 
Waterstradt,  Mr.,  329 
Wat  Phu,  180 

West  River  of  Canton,  the,  295 
White,  Captain,  258 
Wilcox’s  explorations,  266,  342 
Williams,  Captain,  280 
Wise,  Mr.  D.  H.,  327 
Woods,  Lieutenant,  116,  255 
Woodthorpe,  Colonel  R.  G.,  297 
World,  the,  according  to  Masudi 
and  Edrisi,  22 

Yam  Byne,  267 

Yandabu,  the  peace  of,  117,  256 


INDEX 


378 


Yang-tse,  the  valley  of  the,  251 
Yebuk  Yua,  261 
Yedan,  260 
Yuan-kiang,  238 

Yule,  Colonel  (afterwards  Colonel 
Sir  Henry),  225,  262,  274,  295,  341 


Yun-nan,  220,  232,  240 

and  the  Gulf  of  Tongking 
trade-route,  305 
the  lakes  of,  343 

Zimi  River,  the,  303 


